"We're not going anywhere, dammit!" David roared, slamming the small pile of twigs he'd started collecting on the ground. "Sit DOWN."
The sternness in his voice made Emma feel uneasy, and it overrode her train of thought so much so that she actually did sit down on a rock on the other side of the circle. Without words, she looked up at David, willing him to understand her need to continue and her desire to be alone. He, of course, did not. (How could he?)
Regina looked back and forth between them, not knowing what to do. She certainly wasn't going to say anything. There was no way she was going to get in the middle of a daddy-daughter fight - not between those two, anyway. She stood awkwardly, watching them both, with her arms crossed. The surly look on her face told them that she had nothing to say, but her compliance also told them that she was willing to obey - at least for now. The way Regina figured it, she was going to get to her son any way possible. Her way hadn't worked, so it was somebody else's turn to figure it out. She was along for the ride, which was a new sensation for her. Never before had she simply been a wheel on the cart. It had been she who had always been the leader, the Queen, the one in charge. Here, now. . . she was just another one of them. One they didn't even like. They all looked at her with disdain. She was only there because they felt they owed it to Henry. She wasn't even sure Henry would be glad to see her. Emma was his new mom now, and that seemed to be working out just fine for him (until the whole Neverland mess happened). Regina began to stare at her feet, regretting that she'd worn heels. Had that really been her own idea? She sighed to herself, unwilling to complain.
"I'm going to get more sticks for a fire," David announced. "We'll wait here until dark and then move."
David was so sure of himself. Emma envied him, wishing she could be like that. Perhaps to others she seemed as though she knew what she wanted and how to get it, but inside, Emma was just as scared as anyone else about her future and her own choices. Am I doing the right thing? was always a question on her mind - now, more so than ever. With Henry in her life, she had to make the right choices. There was no room for mistakes, and she knew that better than anyone. Watching Regina fail to live up to Henry's expectations of her as a hero inspired fear in her own heart. What if that was her someday? What if she let Henry down, too? What if they found Henry and he didn't want to go home? What if he was already a lost boy?
She started to panic, her palms sweating and her face turning a deep shade of red. Her breathing quickened and became heavy as she gripped her own knees and leaned forward to stare at the ground. Suddenly, the woods were spinning. What if she was a bad mother? What if coming to Storybrooke was a mistake? What if he was better off with Regina? After all, Regina had been there for him his whole life. Emma had been elsewhere, living her life without a son and without responsibilities, just like her own parents had.
Then again, weren't Mary Margaret and David good parents now, at least? They certainly tried. Was Emma better off now that they were in her life? She didn't have an answer, but she knew that Henry wanted her there. That was enough to keep her going, at least for now. Still, her stomach was flipping just looking at the ground. The awful feeling of disappointing someone she loved sank deeper into her gut, and she started to feel faint. What if she wasn't good enough? What if she never would be?