Author's note: Thank you for all the reviews! You are the best :)
So, since y'all have been asking for David, here he is.
Chapter 20
David is rounding the corner, on his way to check on the dwarves' progress on castle repairs when he suddenly stops short. Are his eyes deceiving him or is that Mary Margaret sitting with...Emma? Both talking animatedly, Mary Margaret looking happier than she's been in ages.
"Emma?" He asks in amazement. "I-is that you?"
She stops talking and looks up. "Yeah."
David stumbles into the room, full of questions. "When did you get back? Did Neal find you? Did he bring you back?"
At the mention of Neal her face darkens. "Yeah. He found me. But he didn't bring me back."
David is so glad to see her all he wants is to reach out and wrap her in a tight hug, which of course is out of the question. "I'm so glad you're ok." He settles on.
"Uh-huh." She replies.
Mary Margaret stands up. "I'm going to go get some food. Want anything, Emma?"
Emma nods, and David snickers to himself. Typical Emma, always thinking about her stomach.
"Charming?" Mary Margaret turns to the sound of Charming, David notices a strange expression cross Emma's face.
"No." He replies distractedly. "Thanks."
As Mary Margaret leaves the room, he turns to Emma, who is still fixing him with a weird stare. Its a bit unnerving.
"Did she say Charming?" Emma frowns.
He laughs nervously. "Yeah its, uh, a nickname. Thats not really my name."
"Thats good to hear." She replies, though she still appears to be deep in thought.
He takes a seat next to her. "Something on your mind?"
"Hmm? No."
"You know, many people find me to be a good listener."
"I'm sure they do." She shakes her head. "I, um, I found out something weird today."
"And what's that?"
She raises an eyebrow. "You're gonna think its crazy."
"Try me."
"Ok. Well, the woman I was just talking to? Snow White or whatever? She's supposedly my mother."
At this, David's heart nearly stops. Could it be? Could she really have her memories back?
Emma continues, unaware of his internal musings. "Yeah, it's nuts, right? I mean, we're like the same age. And then when she called you Charming...I guess that makes you my father."
Wait. WHAT? "Did you get your memories back?" He asks urgently. But as the words leave his mouth he knows that they aren't true. The guarded expression on Emma's face is the expression of the woman who first came to Storybrooke about a year ago, not the one he was slowly starting to get to know.
"N-no." She responds. "Sorry."
"Then how did you..."
"These people I met in the forest, Mulan and Aurora, they told me everything. About me supposedly losing my memory."
David tries to keep the disappointment out of his voice. "Oh."
They sit in silence for a while, until she speaks up again. "So you're really my father, huh?"
"Yeah." He says.
"Well it's nice to meet you." She half smiles.
"We already met." David reminds her gently.
Emma seems to slump over a bit. "Right."
"So you really don't remember..."
"Nope." She shrugs. "I don't."
"Mary Margaret-Snow, she had no idea who you really are, does she?" David asks, though he already knows the truth.
"No." Emma suddenly grows sad. "She thinks her daughter is dead."
"Hey." David says. Tentatively he places an arm around Emma and to his surprise she does not shy away, instead snuggling slightly closer. Maybe on some deep level inside she is finding comfort in him, a thought that causes a jolt of happiness. "I know you don't remember, but she loves you very much. So do I, in fact."
Emma shrugs. "So I've heard."
"And we'll find a way to bring your memories back. Both of yours. I promise."
Emma shoots him a small smile. "I hope so."
"Nothing." Regina hurls a book across the room in frustration, feeling only marginally better as she does so. "Nothing at all."
She, Tamara, and Greg are seated in what she figures used to be the library, paging through the surprisingly detailed array of books, trying to find some way to get back to Henry.
"What about a magic mirror?" Greg suggests.
"Fresh out of those." Regina snaps. "Do you think I'd still be here if I had one?" She presses the palms of her hands to her eyes. "Ugh."
"How about this?" Tamara stands up and crosses the room towards Regina.
"A magic transfer?" Regina wrinkles her nose as she reads from the torn page. "How will that help?"
"Well, like you said, your magic is unpredictable here. Maybe that's the problem. Maybe if we somehow, I don't know, transfer your magic to someone else, that could work?"
"That's ridiculous." Regina replies. "First of all magic transfers are hard. They can only happen during very specific times and haven't you been paying attention? It's not my magic that's the problem. I just need a way to make a portal to go back to Storybrooke."
"Right."
They are silent for a while, until Tamara speaks up again. "How would you do a magic transfer, though? Just curious." She is careful to keep her tone light and conversational.
"You need this special knife." Regina replies, distracted as she is engrossed in another thick book. "And you have to stab the magic holder's heart on the last day of the new moon at midnight. And then drink their blood."
If only she'd looked up she would've seen the triumphant glance exchanged between Tamara and Greg.
When Snow comes back, the first thing she sees is Charming and Emma, sitting together on the windowsill. His arm is around her as they just sit in what appears to be a companionable silence. She has no idea why, but this sight makes her so happy it brings tears to her eyes.
"Hey." Charming says as he spies her in the doorway.
"Hey. Brought some food back." She holds up a heavy looking basket.
As he reaches forward to take it, something falls out of his pocket. He looks down to see a deck of cards lying on the floor, something that he'd found earlier. He figures that someone had dropped them or something.
"What's that?" Snow frowns as she picks up the box. "Never seen that before." Of course she hasn't, since cards don't exist in the Enchanted Forest.
"You've never seen cards before?" Emma's eyebrows raise so high she looks quite comical.
"We don't have them here." Charming reminds her gently.
"What are they for?" Snow opens the box and shuffles through the deck.
"Games." Emma responds as she takes them out of her mother's hands. "My personal favorite is BS."
Charming hides a smirk; of course Emma would love BS, given her super power for detecting lies.
"Show me." Snow says.
"All right." Emma agrees as she begins to shuffle the cards. "Watch the pro and learn."
Just then, David remembers that he is supposed to go check on the dwarves' progress. He stands up. "I'll leave you two to your game." But just as he is about to leave he feels a tugging on his sleeve.
"Wait." Emma says almost shyly. "You can, um, stay. If you want." She frowns. "Or not. Whatever. It's up to you."
He looks down at her, touched. How could he say no to her? She has an earnest expression on her face as she bites her lip. He knows how hard it is for her to admit that she needs someone. How can he say no to his baby girl wanting to spend time with him?
"Sure." He sits back down. "The dwarves can wait."
A relieved expression crosses Emma's face as he does so, though it is quickly replaced by her usual bored expression.
As the afternoon slips away, as Emma teaches them card game after card game, as they fill the cavernous room with the sounds of their laughter and shouts of glee, Charming thinks, for the first time ever, that this whole being transported back to the Enchanted Forest thing might not be so bad. He can't remember the last time he's spent any time with Emma at all, and it's kind of nice.
Author's note: So what did you think? Hope you enjoyed.
