Chapter 6

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"Mom, calm down." Henry tried to calm Emma down. She had been listing off instructions for him to follow for the last fifteen minutes. It wasn't like he was a little kid anymore. He knew what he was allowed to do and what he wasn't.

He was almost fourteen. He didn't think he needed a babysitter but he understood why Emma would leave him with Ruby. Something dangerous was going on. The bruises along his mom's neck were just a visible reminder of the real danger that existed around them. He knew Emma would feel better if he was with Ruby while she tried to find Regina.

"I get it. I'll stay with Ruby. I won't leave her sight. I promise." He didn't want to make this harder for anyone. He knew that if his mom was here that there was someone trying to keep her here. What didn't make sense to him was why they would keep Regina here and why none of the people he'd grown up with would let whomever was keeping Regina here do that. He tried not to think too hard on the matter because the more he did the more his head started to hurt.

Emma sighed with relief, "Thank you, Henry." She kissed the top of his head as she hugged him. He hugged her back tightly, trying his best to assure himself that the gun his hand brushed over was going to be enough to protect his mom if she got into trouble.

"Be careful." He whispered against the top of her shoulder.

"I will." She promised. "Listen to Ruby. And if anything happens, you have my number." That last bit was directed to Henry and Ruby, who stood just off to the side, waiting for them to finish their conversation.

Ruby stepped up to Henry and placed her hand on his shoulder. "We'll be fine. Go do what you have to do."

Emma nodded, staring at Henry for a moment more before she turned and left the Inn, Hook following close behind her.

"Where to, Captain?" Hook asked, unsure where Emma wanted to start.

"I'm off to see my parents."

"And where am I going?" Hook asked, realizing she had no intentions of having him with her as she spoke to her parents.

"To find clues as to what the hell happened here. You're the only one that remembers the last year of your life in the Enchanted Forest. Go see if you can find someone who might be of some use to us in finding out who and how this curse was cast."

"Don't you think that's rather obvious, love? Who do we know that's already cast a curse like this before…?" His tone reminded Emma of those cheesy game show hosts who were asses.

Emma shook her head, "No. She didn't do this."

"You can't know that for sure."

"Yes I can."

"You're allowing the feelings the spell caused you to have to interfere with your judgment." Hook was disappointed. He hoped now that Emma remembered her real memories she would be more realistic when it concerned Regina.

"The spell isn't what's clouding my judgment. Reason is what is clouding it. If Regina was the one to cast the curse and they've all been back for three weeks she wouldn't still be here pretending like she doesn't remember the last year. She would have come looking for Henry."

Hook had to admit, at least a little bit, that she had a point.

"So, have anything else to blame on the spell?" He didn't say anything, "No? Good. Now, let's find out who actually did this shall we. Without drawing attention to ourselves. Whoever did this is going through a lot of trouble to make it impossible for us to find out who they are. They already have the upper hand. Let's not give them any more leverage okay?"

"Aye aye." Hook felt a small smile form on his lips as he and Emma separated. It was nice to have the old Emma back. To have her taking charge and putting him in his place. He found it rather attractive how strong willed she was. He always had. He wondered if the Regina in Emma's fake memories enjoyed that particular trait as much as he did. He then shook his head at himself. He was jealous of the memory of a woman who technically did not exist and yet who was the greatest threat he now faced in winning Emma's heart.

Emma took a deep breath and quietly made her way to Mary Margaret's apartment. Hoping that David and Mary Margaret would still be there as it was still very early. She felt the dull headache she'd had since yesterday start to get stronger the more she thought about seeing Mary Margaret…pregnant.

Ruby had let her know earlier that morning before she'd gone to get dressed for the day, having never gotten to sleep, that they'd known it had been close to a year of moving time for them because of Mary Margaret's pregnancy. The thought of her parents having another child wasn't easy. She had known it was going to happen. Mary Margaret had confessed her desire for another chance at raising a child in Neverland. Emma just thought she'd gotten lucky and wouldn't have to be around to see how happy the couple would be preparing for the baby and raising him or her.

It seemed her luck had run out though. She was going to be a big sister, nearly thirty years older than her sibling. Her own son was going to have an uncle thirteen years younger than him. Their family tree was already dicey without the new addition, so Emma could only imagine how this would all work out. Though she hoped it worked out better for her parents this time around than it had last.

-.-.-.-.-.-

Emma settled herself with a deep breath as she raised her hand to knock on the door. This was it. Time to meet her parents/in-laws…again.

"Here goes nothing." Emma knocked heavily on the door four times.

It didn't take long before the door was opened and Emma was staring at David. His eyes widened as he looked at her, his mouth opening slightly as if he wanted to say something but thought better of it after a moment.

"David…" Emma greeted with a small smile.

His eyes suddenly shined with tears as she spoke his name. "Emma…you remember." He whispered as he waited just an instant for her to nod her agreement before his arms were wrapped tightly around her.

Emma felt her breath hitch as he held onto her as if he never wanted to let her go again. She felt tears sting her eyes but she refused to let them fall. She was a grown woman and did not need to cry when her father—who was the same age as her—hugged her like it was all he'd wanted to ever do.

Emma reluctantly pulled away from David's embrace and smiled softly at him. He looked good.

"How…when?" He asked, closing the door behind her, though he took a moment to look for Henry. "Where's Henry?"

"He's with Ruby. We got in really early this morning, or late last night, however you want to look at it." Emma explained as she ran a nervous hand through her hair before stuffing it into her jacket pocket.

"Come in, come in. Your mother's just in the shower. She'll be so happy to see you." David gestured for Emma to come away from the doorway and into the apartment that she'd lived in for nearly two years. It should feel like home. She should feel comfortable here. But she didn't. She didn't feel comfortable here. It just felt like someplace that she'd stayed in the past. It didn't give her any warm and fuzzy feelings. That, amongst the growing list of consequences of Regina's spell, concerned her.

"I hear you're expecting." Emma cut right to the chase as she noticed how suddenly nervous and uncomfortable David became at the mention of Mary Margaret.

David was surprised she knew, that was clear upon his face. "How?"

"Ruby let me know. Thought it would be a better idea that I knew before I saw you guys today. Take away some of the shock value, you know?"

David rubbed at the back of his neck, a mannerism that Emma herself also possessed and did when she was nervous. "Yes, I guess that's good."

"I'm happy for you both, David. You guys deserve a second chance to do things right this time."

"Do things right?" David frowned at the turn of phrase.

Emma internally cringed, that wasn't what she'd meant. "I mean get things right. Get your second chance at having the life you wanted." New baby and all. "I know how precious that kind of chance can be." Emma looked off to the side, unable to bear the disappointed look on David's face.

David didn't seem convinced by her correction, and to be honest, she wasn't all that convinced either. This was truthfully going to be something she had to get used to. The last thing she needed on her plate right now was being jealous of her unborn sibling. She had more important things to worry about.

"Maybe you should go tell Mary Margaret, I'm here, so she doesn't faint or something when she sees me." Emma suggested, anything to get David out of the room and have a moment to compose and collect herself.

"Good idea." David was quick to leave the room and head to the bathroom to tell Mary Margaret who was waiting for them in the living room.

As David did that, Emma walked around the living room a little and noticed the coffee table was covered in baby books. Some of which she had memories of reading, of seeing Regina reading, and some she had actually read herself while in juvie.

She picked up one of the books that she'd actually read and noticed how far along Mary Margaret—or David—was in. They were just getting to the good part about childbirth itself. And it seemed that whoever was reading this book had highlighted the term midwife and home birth. Emma cringed at the notion of such a thing. If it were her she'd want to be in a hospital surrounded by doctors and nurses and anything they might need if something, god forbid, were to go wrong.

Emma hoped Snow would change her mind about the home birth. She knew that being back in the Enchanted Forest would have forced them to reacquaint themselves with living in what was similar to the medieval times, but they were back in the world of technology now. Where there were doctors that helped you through childbirth not fairies and dwarves.

At the sound of fast approaching footsteps Emma put down the baby book and turned around to greet her mother. Her smile only faltering for a split second when she first saw how far along she was.

"Emma…" Mary Margaret breathed out her name like it was the answer to her prayers. She was soaking wet and dripping water all over the floor and appeared to only be in her bathrobe. Which wasn't too bad when Emma thought about it. After all they had been roommates for a year and she had seen a bit more of her mother's body than she probably should admit to having seen.

"Hey, mom…" Emma felt the term fall from her lips before she could even think to stop them. She just, it was just a little much for her right now as she was suddenly a little emotional. The two stepped towards each other simultaneously.

Emma met Mary Margaret half way and held onto her as tightly as she would let herself, the large swell of her stomach pressing into her as she did. Mary Margaret didn't hesitate to try and pull her closer and hold her tighter. There were tears already falling down Mary Margaret's face as she finally pulled back, to cup Emma's cheeks. Her eyes noticing the bandages and bruising around her neck.

"My God, Emma what happened to you?"

David, who had been standing just behind his wife and daughter noticed the injuries for the first time now that Mary Margaret had pointed them out.

Emma tried to wave off their concern, "It's nothing. Really."

"Nothing? Emma, those bruises are in the shape of someone's hands!" Mary Margaret gently reached towards Emma's neck, stopping herself from touching the wounds centimeters away from it. Mary Margaret turned to David for his support and his observation of the bruises. Then she realized Henry was nowhere to be seen, "Henry! Where's Henry, is he okay?" David put a comforting hand on Mary Margaret's shoulder to try and keep her calm, knowing any unneeded stress was not good for the baby.

"Henry's fine. He's with Ruby." Mary Margaret looked like she wanted to question that more but stayed focused on the conversation at hand, for now. "I'm okay. I handled myself." Well enough at least. She still swore that Dr. Diggs was much stronger than he should be. Then again he was supposed to be human too, so there was that.

"Who did this to you?" David's voice was gruff, his eyes darkening as his hands flexed at his sides. His reaction reminded Emma startlingly of Henry's.

"My physiatrist."

Mary Margaret's eyebrow rose, "You're seeing a psychiatrist? Why what's wrong?"

Of course she would focus on why she was seeing Walsh, while David asked at the same time,

"What's his name? Where can I find him?"

"One question at a time!" Emma held up her hand to stop them as she took one step away from them both, needing the space to just breathe. She looked at David first, "His name is Walsh. He was in New York before he sprouted wings and grew a tail and flew away." That caught both of their attention. "And yes, he was posing as my psychiatrist, but he was actually a plant by the person who cursed you to keep me away."

"But why were you seeing a psychiatrist?" Mary Margaret re-asked.

Emma sighed, "Because I was…ammay be suffering from PTSD. And I was depressed. Suffering from long term memory loss, because the spell Regina cast was malfunctioning or something." Mary Margaret gasped at that, "Whatever it was, I started to have trouble remembering things that I should have remembered about the fake life she had given me and Henry. Having night terrors. Things were triggering panic attacks, migraines, sleeplessness and loss of appetite. So it was either I had severe PTSD of abandonment or early onset Alzheimer's."

David shook his head, trying to understand what Emma was saying. He hated magic. It was also so complicated. He wasn't as familiar with many things Mary Margaret and Emma knew about. He hadn't been awake for 28 years living and getting used to this world and it's technology and medical advancements. He did recognize the term PTSD and knew a little about that, but not much.

"Of Abandonment? How could you have that if you didn't remember your real memories?" Or how she and David had abandoned her as an infant was what Emma really heard underneath the question.

"I still remembered my life up until I was eighteen and had Henry. I just choose to keep him and raise him myself." Emma chewed on the inside of her lip as she realized she'd have to tell them exactly what she remembered as her life. They'd need to know before they could see Henry, and she knew that they'd want to see him as soon as possible.

"Oh that's wonderful Emma." Mary Margaret breathed with joy for her daughter, until she realized that although those memories had to have been a gift at the time, they were now probably nothing more than a burden that weighed guilt down upon her heavily.

"They were…" Emma smiled brightly, lost in thought of the life she'd lost when she took that potion. "They really were. We were happy. So happy. Life was good. We were a family." Emma thought of her and Regina watching Henry as he rolled around in the grass of their backyard, Regina's arms wrapped around her from behind.

"Emma…" David hated to pull Emma away from the memories that seemingly made her so happy, but there was still much they had to discuss.

"Sorry…I uhm, do that a lot recently. Space out. I have two lives worth of memories swimming around in my head. It gets confusing sometimes." Emma admitted, feeling slightly embarrassed that she'd allowed herself to space out in front of her parents.

"It's okay. Why don't we go sit down in the living room. Your father will make us some tea." Mary Margaret saw David nod as he went to make the tea as instructed while she led Emma to the couch.

"I'd much prefer coffee if you have it?" Emma asked as she looked towards the kitchen where David was already getting water.

"We have some. I'll make it." He put both the kettle on and the coffee pot as quickly as he could so that he could rejoin his family on the couch.

Mary Margaret sat Emma down slowly and settled her before she too sat down on the couch beside her. Her hand moving to rest on Emma's knee.

"Easy…" Emma hissed as Mary Margaret pressed down on her knee.

Snow pulled her hand away from Emma as if it had been burned.

"Sorry…" Emma apologized. "My neck isn't the only injury I got. I sprained my knee in the fight and bruised my elbow pretty badly too." Snow's eyes widened and opened her mouth to tell David to get something for Emma's knee when Emma stopped her by putting her own hand on Snow's leg. "Granny's already treated it. It's wrapped up with some kind of bark and root ointment that's supposed to make it better in a few days."

Mary Margaret seemed relieved about that, and relaxed. "Good. Granny is an excellent healer. I'm sure if she thinks it will be better in a few days it will be."

Emma nodded, allowing silence to overtake them as they sat together. She did her best not to look at the baby books on the coffee table.

"One cup of decaf tea and one caffeinated coffee." David announced as he came into the living room with the two cups, made exactly how she and Snow took them.

"Thanks, David." Both mother and daughter said. He smiled in response before he pushed some of the books to the side of the table and sat down on it.

"So, what aren't you telling us about these memories?" David asked as he leaned forward.

Emma breathed out a small laugh; of course he would know she wasn't telling them everything. But to be fair she hadn't had much time to share everything just yet. "I was married in these memories. Henry was raised with two loving parents. And two amazing grandparents."

Snow gasped, almost spilling her tea. "Married?"

"Who's the lucky man?" David asked, though there was an underlying tone to his voice that Emma couldn't place.

Emma sighed, and put down her coffee without taking a sip. Her stomach was in tight knots to let her keep down anything. No matter how good that coffee smelled. "I wasn't married to a man, David."

Confusion settled over both of her parents before David realized what she was saying first, he didn't miss a beat once he'd figured out what she wasn't saying, "Who's the lucky woman then?"

"Woman?" Mary Margaret gasped, surprised that David was catching onto this faster than she was.

Emma nodded, looking at Mary Margaret carefully, "You knew that I was interested in both men and women before the curse broke."

"Well, yes…but…" Snow was a bit tongue tied now that she was put on the spot.

"You were…are?" David looked a little put out that he hadn't known that.

"I've dated women before, David. I spoke with Mary Margaret about it before the curse was broken. It wasn't as if I didn't tell you deliberately. I just didn't think to mention it with everything that was going on."

"That's understandable." He had to acknowledge that it made sense why Snow would know this information while he didn't, but what he was surprised by was Snow's sudden discomfort with the matter.

It wasn't that Mary Margaret was uncomfortable with the idea that Emma could be with a woman, or would be in her fake memories. What concerned her was if this woman really existed and was about to be brought into this type of world without having had a single clue in the world. And she knew that not many people could handle such a revelation and she didn't want to see Emma hurt. Emma deserved to be happy. And she deserved to be happy for real, not just only in fake memories gifted to her in a spell. She deserved to be loved in real life, not just in her mind.

"You still haven't answered your father's question." Mary Margaret pressed, hoping to hear that Emma still had a chance to be happy.

Emma ducked her head and took a deep breathe. "This is where things get complicated."

Mary Margaret sighed, she knew it would. "It's okay." She touched Emma's shoulder, stopping David from touching Emma's bad knee when he went to offer tactile comfort as well.

"I hope you'll still think so." Emma admitted. "Now you have to let me tell you everything. Okay? You can't interrupt me. I promise I'll answer any questions you have after I've explained. But it'd just be easier if I could say this all at once and then have you react." She looked at both of them and waited for them to agree to her terms before she started to explain.

"In the fake memories I was married and you were my in-laws. You were my wife's parents, and to be honest you didn't like me very much. But you adored Henry and your daughter, and she adored me so you dealt with your discontent with me being in her life." God was it weird to think about Regina being Mary Margaret and David's daughter. Even just in the fake memories it was still awkward.

"So, Henry will remember you, but he won't remember you as my parents. He thinks that you're my…wife's parents." Emma didn't realize how hard of a time she would have saying 'wife' now that she knew she had never actually been married to Regina. "He also thinks that you've been traveling overseas because about twelve months ago his other mother left. In our memories I had a fight with her and she left that night to cool off, but when Henry and I came home the next day all her things were gone. It seemed like the spell didn't know how to compensate for Regina not actually being there, that it had her abandon us, leave me and Henry. Ah!"

Emma held up her hand and stopped Mary Margaret from saying anything out loud. The other woman snapped her mouth closed but her eyes spoke volumes.

"Yes, the woman I was married to in these fake memories was Regina. No, I don't know why or how that happened because we were supposed to forget about her and you all." She thought it was important to at least give Regina the benefit of the doubt, and hope to god that she hadn't purposefully cast that spell with those types of memories being implanted. "But we didn't. Our memories had us here, in Storybrooke, raising Henry around everyone. Which makes things very complicated because Henry only remembers these fake memories, but if he's anything like me, the moment he starts to question things the less and less things are going to make sense and the harder the spell is going to work to make things at least appear to be real. Which nearly drove me crazy."

Emma recalled how painful it had been to think about everything that just didn't fit into the realm of plausibility. Or at least, hadn't then. Now it was easy to consider such things. After all she now knew magic existed. Henry did not.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Henry sat in the living room of Granny's Inn with a frown. He was flipping through the TV stations absent mindedly. It was still really early in the morning and most of the channels didn't have anything good on. After what felt like an hour he gave up on the TV and just sat in the living room by himself. He saw a pen resting on the table in front of him and he picked it up. He started tapping it against his bottom lip as he leaned back in his seat and tried to work out this current case like his mother would.

He needed a piece of paper. He needed to start writing down everything he knew about the situation so that he could better ascertain what was still missing. Once he got the piece of paper he sat in the living room and started working on his fact sheet.

That was how Ruby found him an hour and a half later.

There were tension creases in his forehead. He had such a bad headache that light itself was hurting it. He'd put down the pen and was covering his eyes with both of his hands. There were so many things that just didn't add up. He didn't understand how they couldn't add up.

"Henry…hey, are you okay?" Ruby asked as she sat next to him.

"Headache…" Henry groaned at the sound of Ruby's voice.

Ruby frowned, realizing he must have been in a great deal of pain to look as pale as he did now. "Here, let's get you upstairs. I have some Advil that you can take." Henry willingly followed Ruby up the stairs, leaning heavily against her as they went up the stairs.

Once he was back in bed with a cold compress covering his eyes and head, Ruby stood in front of his door, a worried expression on her face. She considered calling Emma but then thought better of it. She'd wait and see how Henry felt when he woke up before she worried Emma unnecessarily.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Emma! You're being blinded by your remembered feelings for Regina! Of course she did this on purpose. She wanted Henry to remember her and what better way than to insert herself into your memories as a lover? It would keep her close to him even in fake memories." Mary Margaret insisted.

They were all standing on opposite sides of the coffee table at the moment, making one big triangle. Though her parents were making a united front against her as they stood relatively close on the other end of the room.

"I am not blind to who, Regina is. Or was. What you are being blind to is who she has become!"

"Emma, how can you be defending her right now? Her spell nearly caused you to go crazy. It caused you to fall into a depression thinking the person you loved left you."

"How could I blame her for that? She wasn't there. It wasn't like she could have planned for the spell to start to break apart." Could she? Could they be right? Was she being blinded by her feelings for Regina to see what they so plainly were?

"Couldn't she? Its perfect timing really, isn't it? The spell falls apart nearly a year into its casting just in time for her to cast a new curse and bring us all back here so she can find you and Henry and take him from you."

Emma shook her head, no. No, that wasn't possible. Regina wouldn't do that. Not to her. Not to Henry. "No. She wouldn't cause Henry that kind of pain on purpose."

"Emma, your mother has a point." David realized just how much of a point Snow had.

"Fine…" Emma conceded. "Maybe you do have a point. But tell me then, why hasn't she left to find Henry if this was her plan from the beginning? Why wait a month extra before coming to look for us?" Emma asked, causing both Snow and David to look at each other in thought. "The only way your theory works is if she planned to come and find Henry and take him from me from the beginning. She wouldn't be stupid enough to ty and take him from me when she knew I would have the support of you and the whole town. So why wait for us to come and find her? Why make us hate her because she left us both just to come back and try and make things right with Henry after I'd gone off the deep end? Hmm? It wouldn't work. It doesn't make any sense!"

Emma insisted, because she couldn't let it make sense. If it even began to make sense she wasn't sure she knew how to handle that realization. It was hard enough trying to deal with her feelings for the Regina she remembered in her fake memories in comparison to the woman whom she'd actually come to know. They truly were seemingly one and the same in so many aspects.

Was she being blinded by her feelings? Were they right?

"She saved you all. At the cost of Henry. She saved you all. She could have come with us. She's the only one who could have crossed that town line. But she saved you all at the cost of her happiness." Emma whispered, unable to meet her parent's eyes. Slowly she looked up and stared at them both, feeling her confidence return as she straightened her shoulders. She was ready to continue this argument for as long as she had to until they saw her point. "She's not the same person she was when she cursed you all those years ago. And shame on both of you for maintaining your black and white portrayal of her still. You should know better."

"Emma…" David was the one to try and smooth things over this time, but Emma just waved him off, stepping back every time he stepped towards her.

"I may be confused right now about how I feel about her. But I know her. I always have. It's only when I listen to your opinions of her that things start to go wrong, because you've been wrong. You were so sure that she killed Archie and I let you convince me. I let that stupid dog's memory convince me of something I knew wasn't what happened. She hadn't lied to me then, and we pushed her right into Cora's waiting hands. We let her be manipulated by Cora and in turn you manipulated her into killing her own mother." Emma knew it was a low jab, but it was the truth and sometimes Snow and David needed to be reminded of their faults and come down off their high horses. "She was ready to die for all of us when that trigger was set off. She was willing to give up her happiness so that you all could go back to the Enchanted Forest and have yours. She's not the evil queen anymore and the more you insist that she is the more she'll try and prove you right."

Emma took several deep breaths to calm down. "Don't prove her right. Trust in her. That she wants what's best for Henry and she realizes now that what's best for him is to have a family with all of us in it. Why else give me those memories? She had to work around my own memories of not having a family and still had you included in my life as parents, and Henry's as grandparents. And our lives were good. And happy. They only fell apart when the memories weren't just implanted but Henry and I were actually living in New York."

Mary Margaret sighed and stared at Emma for a long moment before she turned to David. They communicated silently as they often did before she looked back to her daughter.

"Fine. We'll try our best."

"Thank you." Emma breathed out the thanks sincerely.

David changed the subject, realizing for now this conversation was over. "What do you suggest we do about Henry's fake memories?"

"We find Regina and see if she can help us make a memory potion."

David cringed internally at the idea, "If that's the plan then I think there's something you should know." David segewayed as he shared a slightly concerned look with Snow. "It's about Regina and…"

"And…?" Emma pressed.

David sighed and looked to Mary Margaret for help, but Mary Margaret wanted nothing to do with this. So she left him to finish what he'd started. "She's seeing a gentleman from the Enchanted Forest." He stated, "Romantically."

Emma felt her heart thump painfully against her chest. She blinked several times as she absorbed what her parents were telling her. A part of her was happy that Regina had found someone while the noisier and larger part of her wanted to know his name, profession, and address so she could get rid of him. Regina was hers! And yet…she wasn't. Regina wasn't her wife and she wasn't Regina's. She was nothing to Regina now.

"Oh…" Well wasn't that just peachy.

End Chapter Six