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Anything Tamara says is not to be trusted/believed.

Chapter Four

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"Storybrooke?" Emma repeated with some disbelieving skepticism. There was no way that could actually be a name of a town. And it sounded way too much like something that would be related to the ramblings of Neal and crazy scarf man she had overheard, Emma noted with a slight cringe. She wasn't sure what she would do if this woman was also as deluded as they had seemed.

"Storybrooke, Maine," Tamara stated confidently with a sideways glance at her, "Your home… or what was your home."

Hearing Tamara's tired sigh, Emma turned to her with narrowed eyes. "What's that suppose to mean?" she snapped, trying not to feel panicked over a town she hadn't even heard of seconds before.

"No one is there anymore, they've all gone back to the Enchanted Forest," Tamara said with a look that Emma guessed was supposed to be reassuring.

Emma groaned. The Enchanted fucking Forest. She should have known. "Not you too," she grumbled under her breath. They were all crazy. There was no way that place was real. So why did it feel like she was trying to convince herself? Dreams were just that. Dreams. "Stop the car," Emma ordered hostilely, desperately glancing down the highway for the nearest exit. She didn't have time to worry about fairy tale freaks when she had more important things to deal with, "You said you knew where my son was." Henry. Emma constantly repeated the name in her head. She had to find Henry.

Tamara didn't stop the car. "I don't know what you've heard so far, but whatever it was, it's all true, Emma," she confessed, ignoring the way Emma kept shaking her head incredulously at her, "The Enchanted Forest is real. Your son is there."

Ah, of course. Because things could never be simple for her. "And that's why I've been alone for an entire year? Because my family has been in some far off, magical land?" Emma mused sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"Yes." Tamara deadpanned, looking so serious that Emma was left speechless, not expecting that answer to the quip she had thrown out. Taking advantage of her hesitancy, Tamara reached into the backseat and pulled out a large, intricate book entitled 'Once Upon a Time'. "Read this," Tamara ordered, plopping the heavy book down in Emma's lap, "it will help."

"And what exactly is…" Emma asked, eyeing the book warily, a faint recognition tugging somewhere in her mind, "this?"

"Every story in that book really happened," Tamara explained, "some of your history is in there as well. It might even help jog a few memories," she added with some encouragement.

Emma looked down at the book again and swallowed nervously. Almost in anticipation as something deep inside her started to hum. She tried to shake it off. She couldn't believe she was getting so worked up over a book. "Who are you exactly?" Emma questioned instead, staring at Tamara in hopes of being able to read her. She didn't trust her. But she was going to take any information she could get, no matter how crazy it sounded. She wouldn't trust anyone until she found her son.

"Tamara. All I want to do is help," Tamara said with what was suppose to be a kind smile. So did Tamara not have a last name? "I'm not from your land, but I do want to get back there."

"Why?" Emma asked sharply, her eyes narrowing.

"Like you, someone I love is there," Tamara stated with some ferocity before staring back determinately at the road. Yes, she did know what it was like to be separated and alone, and she couldn't help but back down slightly and off Tamara's case. After a tense moment, Tamara nodded back down at the book in Emma's lap, "Read. And if you still don't believe, I promise I will take you back."

As much as Emma still didn't trust her, she felt better upon hearing her promise. Options. Options were good. With a deep breath, Emma opened the book and started reading. She found herself getting immersed in the stories. They felt so familiar. She could almost picture what the real faces of the people pictured looked like. Her gut, her heart, was telling her that it was all true. That the Enchanted Forest was where she belonged. She was annoyed at herself for desperately wanting to believe it, that the hope flaming inside her chest ignited stronger than ever. And then it came to the story of Snow White and Prince Charming. It ended just as they were discussing to go see Rumplestiltskin, to protect their unborn child, Emma. She didn't know why she was suddenly blinking back tears. "So my parents are Snow White and Prince Charming?" Emma finally spoke up after a few hours of reading, trying to keep any emotion out of her voice, "What part about that is suppose to be believable?" she quipped scathingly. Nothing about her was pure or charming.

"We've still got a little ways to go, ask my anything," Tamara offered with a small smile, "I'll try my best to answer."

The questions Emma now had would take weeks to answer. She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose with a sigh. "So who were all those people back there in Boston?" Emma asked tiredly.

"What people?" Tamara asked with furrowed brows. Maybe just a little too innocently.

"Neal," Emma stated awkwardly, the name still feeling foreign on her tongue. "He found me first. Is he really-"

"Yes," Tamara interjected, answering her unspoken question of their relationship, "he wouldn't hurt you," she added reassuringly, "but he does want to keep you in this world. He's also Baelfire, the son of the Dark One," Tamara pointed at the book and Emma had to squelch the urge to go back and reread his story at that very moment, "He hates magic and wants you and Henry here with him. But your family, the one you finally saved after 28 years is in the Enchanted Forest," Tamara's obvious softer tone was beginning to make Emma feel uncomfortable, "and you don't want to be separated from them again, don't you?"

Emma stared at her for a beat too long, sensing her manipulation, but not wanting to jump to conclusions too quickly. "No," Emma replied quickly, but a part of her knew Tamara was right. She wouldn't want to be separated from her family again. With an amused, exasperated face, Emma continued, "The other crazy one with the scarf said he was working for Neal's father."

Tamara nodded, wryly saying, "Rumplestiltskin would do anything to get his son back."

Crazy in-laws. Check. "And then the man with the hook…" Emma hesitantly began, trying to ignore the blush that was threatening to creep up on her cheeks. It was a topic she had avoided trying to think about, denying that she was afraid to be disappointed by the answer.

"Captain Hook?" Tamara reiterated with a slight smirk, "He's a pirate."

Like that answered any of her questions about him. The most she knew about pirates came from movies. And what little she knew about Captain Hook came from the cartoon Peter Pan she had seen on TV once. And he definitely looked nothing like that cartoon. "Can I trust him?" Emma asked in a voice smaller than she liked.

Tamara looked over and studied her for a long moment. "No," she suddenly stated flatly, an air of viciousness buzzing around her, "He's the last person you want to trust."

She tried not to feel disappointed. She really did. But then Tamara's answer began to stir a flare of anger in her and she wanted nothing more than to somehow refute her answer. "He kissed me," Emma argued defiantly.

"Like I said, he's a pirate," Tamara shot back, her tone matching Emma's, "He probably just wanted to get your guard down before he, you know…"

From the look on Tamara's face, Emma knew she was implying that Hook wanted to kill her. Sure, his demeanor there for a second had been scary, but she hadn't felt scared for herself. Tamara did have a point, though… He must have been just trying to get her guard down. But something about him did seem familiar… Ugh, she didn't know what to believe. And now her head was starting to pound painfully. "Why are all these people suddenly just popping up? How did you find me?" Emma sputtered on frustratingly, trying to get her mind off the pirate.

"I don't know why the others are just now getting here, I've been here," Tamara answered with a stiff shrug, "but I keep an eye on Storybrooke, waiting for a chance to find a portal to go through. I spotted Hook's ship sailing down the coast and followed him."

Emma momentarily had a flash of a looming sails and a deck bordered with yellow and red but she quickly shook it off. It was probably just her imagination mixed with whatever she had seen in that cartoon. "And they all are after me for their own agendas?" Emma asked half-heartedly with some skepticism. She had no memories. No one she could really trust. Did it really matter at this point who got her back to the Enchanted Forest? A place she now thought of as real, apparently…

"Maybe not Neal, but the others, yes," Tamara said.

Maybe she should just wait for Neal to find her again. "How did you get involved in all this?" Emma asked, studying Tamara once more. There was just something about the woman that was off to her. She just couldn't figure out what.

"When we met, I was engaged to Neal," Tamara replied somewhat sheepishly, and then gave Emma a pointed look, "but it's hard to stay in a relationship with someone when it's clear he still has feelings for someone else."

Oh. "Sorry," Emma muttered without even knowing why, turning to look at the night darkened scenery passing by. Tamara just shrugged.

After a short time of them sitting in silence, Emma lost in her thoughts, Tamara let out a groan and started to slow down. "I've had this really bad crick in my neck the past few days. Do you mind driving?"

She stopped the car and got out to switch places before Emma could answer. "No, I guess not," Emma sighed, mostly to herself, and got out to get in the driver's seat.

"This road always gets tricky at night," Tamara said once Emma had started moving, "Let me know if you see any signs."

Emma nodded, decided her silence was a good enough answer. After about thirty more minutes, she squinted her eyes and saw something. "There," Emma pointed a finger at an approaching green sign, "It says we're now entering Storybrooke."

Tamara grinned. "Perfect."

Once they had gotten into the main part of a town, Emma studied the buildings of what was suppose to be her home. Her old home, she guessed. Everything was shut off and abandoned, seemingly untouched for who knows how long. Even the clock tower in the center of town looked broken. It was literally a ghost town. "This isn't creepy at all," Emma mumbled under her breath. This was suppose to be the town where fairy tale characters lived? Stopping the car behind a yellow bug parked on the side of the street, Emma turned to Tamara, letting out a deep, eager breath. "So... what's your plan? Do you have a… portal?" She still couldn't take herself seriously saying that.

"No," Tamara said and Emma banged her head against the steering wheel. Glaring, Tamara continued, "it won't take long for Neal or Hook to figure out where we went. Once they get back here, hopefully we can... negotiate."

Emma raised her head at Tamara's implication that she was sure she didn't mean to really slip in there. "Negotiate?" Emma repeated sternly with a raised eyebrow.

Tamara ignored her and got out of the car. Reluctantly, Emma followed, mentally guarding and bracing herself against whatever Tamara was going to try to pull. She knew something was coming and she could only guess what. Tamara pointed to the door to an apartment. "Welcome home," she smiled, but Emma could tell it didn't reach her eyes.

Emma still followed her into the building and into an apartment that was suppose to be hers. Yes, this was home. She knew it instinctively. Everything about it seemed to resonate something insider her and she never wished more for her memories than she did now.

"I'm going upstairs," the words were out of Emma's mouth before she knew what she was saying. Somehow, she just knew that was where her room was.

"I'll be down here," Tamara answered, eyeing her in such a way that Emma immediately tensed and made her not want to turn her back. It was a long walk up the stairs.

The pictures in the room were the first thing that caught her eye. There was one of her and a woman with a pixie haircut who looked her age. A friend? A sister? They looked a lot a like… The next frame was blank, a picture missing from it, and then the third was one of a little boy. And Emma immediately knew he was hers. Henry. Her beautiful little boy. Emma grabbed the picture and couldn't stop staring, tears rolling down her face before she even knew she wanted to cry. Everything inside her ached and she wanted to force herself to remember because how could she forget him? Taking the picture with her, she laid down on her bed and continued to study it and will any memory to come back to her…

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Henry was standing before her with something in his hand. "You may not believe in the curse, or in me, but I believe in you…."

The image of him warped and suddenly she was standing down in a cave, a dragon looming above her. This shouldn't be normal, but it felt normal, and she felt determined and then she was suddenly dodging shots of fire and jumping over rocks and when she finally got a clear shot, she bent down and threw a sword directly at its heart…

And then she was flying down a portal, something tugging her ankle…

An accented voice shook through her core...

"I was hoping it'd be you."

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Emma shot up with a gasp, her heart pounding, more tears streaming down her face. It was a dream. Just a dream. But they seemed so real. Those couldn't be memories… could they?

Running a shaking hand through her head, Emma slowly got up and was heading to the bathroom before a hand closed over her mouth from behind.

Please review! And I'm sorry if Emma seems a bit out of character. I tried to make her not, but she does have no memories and a lot of her defining traits come from her experiences, in my opinion. But she'll get there soon!