AN: I was sitting here, writing Doctor Who fanfiction and suddenly remembered that I had this written and everything on my computer. Figured I'd updated.
New updates will be sporadic at best, but I'll do what I can. I have a friend who loved OUAT, so that'll probably inspire me to write.
Enjoy and as always, please drop a constructive review! (oh, and points to who can guess who Anna's teacher is!)
Emma hated first days of school. She never mentioned it to Niall, but she had a feeling he knew. She also had a feeling that he felt the same way, but they never spoke about it. They just held their kid's hands, shoved their paranoia back down, and smiled.
It was extremely hard.
So Emma walked Anna down to her class, trying her best not to clutch at her daughter's hand. Henry trailed behind. He had an idea where his class was at and knew he could go at any time, but he knew her issues and was willing to let her walk him down. Which she was pretty sure was the sweetest thing her kid had ever done.
She always wondered where he got that attitude. It certainly wasn't from her.
Anna was pouting. The elementary school had a strict no hats policy, so her tricone had to stay at home. She wasn't happy about it all.
"Anna, please try to behave." Emma said quietly, eyes narrowed at her daughter. She knew the mischief the brat was capable of. "No mutinys, no burying hidden treasure, no back talk, no calling anyone a scurvy ridden bilgerat. I'm serious."
"Mama, you're taking away all my fun!" Anna whined, dragging on Emma's arm a little. "Can't I stage just a little mutiny?"
"No," Emma answered sharply. She pulled her arm a little, making Anna straighten up. "No mutinys at all. If I hear anything from Ms. Caecilian about you staging some pirate shenaigans, I'm going to hang you upside down in the basement."
"We have a basement now too," Henry piped up. "It's not a completely empty threat."
Anna stuck her tongue out at him, before turning back to her mother. "Fine, Mama, I'll be good. Today."
"One week," Emma counter-offered.
"Next week I can stage a mutiny?" Now the brat looked hopeful. Emma fought back a smile.
"If you believe that your teacher deserves one, of course." Emma hoped that this first grade teacher wasn't horrible. She really didn't want to be called up here because her kid incited the other children to tie the teacher to a chair.
It had happened before. Anna had been suspended for a week, the first kindergaterner to have ever been suspended that long in the Leon county school system. Niall had laughed himself sick after the kids had gone to bed.
"Deal!" Anna was considerably brighter as they walked to the door. Emma hoped she wasn't signing the poor teacher's resignation form. Or, worse, her death sentence, she thought wryly as she opened the door.
"Oh, this must be Anna," The teacher was pretty, with dark chocolaty skin and light caramel eyes. Her black hair was pulled back in a low ponytail at the nape of her neck. She smiled brightly at Anna, who blinked at her. She wore a yellow dress that went past her knees and sensible brown shoes. "I'm Ms. Caecilian." She stuck her hand out to shake Anna's hand.
"See-sil?" Anna stumbled over the name for a second, shaking her new teacher's hand. Emma smiled at her.
"See-sil-e-uh," Ms. Caecilian repeated brightly. "I know it's hard to say. You should see how it's spelled. Now, if you would like to, how about you stick your backpack in a cubby over there, and then you can sit down next to Avery. Avery, raise your hand please." A young tow-headed boy raised his hand slowly. "I'm just going to talk to your mama for a second." Anna nodded, making her way to the cubbys, sliding her Pirates of the Carribean backpack off her shoulder.
"I'm Emma Cassidy," Ms. Caecilian shook Emma's offered hand.
"Amirah Caecilian," The teacher replied politely. "The office mentioned that you-"
"Yeah. I just wanted to warn you that Anna is currently going through a pirate phase. A while ago, she decided she wanted to be a pirate and she hasn't stopped yet. She should be good this week, we made a deal, but I have a feeling that next week may be a bit more," Emma stuggled to find the right word. "Interesting."
Ms. Caesilian smilied. "A pirate, hmm? Sounds like fun. I once had a student who thought he was invisible. That was an interesting week. I'm sure Anna will do just fine."
"I hope so. But there will be times when she will only answer to Morgan," Emma shook her head. "Don't ask me why, but that's her pirate name. I just thought I should warn you."
"Thank you very much, Mrs. Cassidy. Don't worry though, Anna will fit right in, I'm sure."
"Doubt that," Emma heard Henry mutter. She tried not to shoot him a look.
"You're welcome. Have fun," Emma said as she stepped towards the exit. She waved at Anna, who waved back brightly, and let the door close behind her. She took a deep breath and placed her hand on Henry's backpack. "Come on, kiddo, one more stop."
"Why do you and Dad hate this so much?" Henry asked, tilting his head to look up at her. Emma paused slightly.
"Because we love you two a lot. The stuff that we had to go through in our lives makes it hard for us to let you be watched by other people. New people at least. It's difficult."
"Because you're afraid someone will take us?"
"Kind of." Emma sighed. "We both have abandonment issues and trust issues. We try not to let it affect your lives, but sometimes, that's hard. So, we keep it limited to things like first days of school, and new babysitters, and stuff like that."
Emma could remember the last person they'd hired to babysit. She had never mentioned it to the kids, or to the poor girl, but she and Niall had run a full background check on her. They couldn't do that for the people here and they tried not to do that for teachers, but it did make them feel better.
"Thanks Mom," He said, reaching up to grab her hand. She blinked at him.
"For what?"
"For caring about us that much," Henry answered smiling.
"Well, keep being grateful now. The days going to come when you're screaming at us about smothering, I know it." Emma muttered, but just gripped her son's hand.
"Nah, that'll be Anna. 'Let me go on the pirate ship, stop smothering me!'" Henry did a horrible imitation of his sister, making Emma snort.
"Yeah, probably. Alright kid, here's your class." She opened the door, dropping his hand to give him at least the possibilty of being a big kid. "Mind if I meet the teacher?"
"Nope," Henry answered.
"Thanks, kid." She watched the woman smile up at them.
"Hello," She said. She was small and pretty, with her dark hair in a cute little pixie cut. Her green eyes were bright and kind. She was dressed in a cute dress with a sweater over it. "Are you Henry?" She asked.
Henry smiled. "Yes, ma'am. This is my mom. Her name is Emma." Emma swallowed her grin. She loved her son so much in that moment.
"Hello Emma. I'm Ms. Blanchard." The teacher stuck her hand out. "Or Mary Margaret"
"It's nice to meet you," Emma said, tilting her head. The woman seemed familiar, and she was going through her list of people in the book to try and figure out who she was. She didn't realize that the woman was doing the same thing.
"I'm sorry, I must seem rude, but have we met before?"
Emma blinked. "I don't believe so," She answered honestly.
"I didn't think so, but it feels like I know you or something. How silly of me." Mary Margaret shook her head. "I'm probably freaking you out or something."
"No, it's fine," Emma said quickly. "I was having the same feeling, so I understand."
"Oh," She was about to say something else, but a student called for her attention. She answered then glanced back at Emma. "I should go. We're making birdhouses today."
It was then that all the puzzle pieces clicked into place. Emma's eyes widened and she almost choked.
Mary Margaret kept talking. "i would like to speak to you again. Perhaps I'll see you around? Are you okay? You suddenly went very pale."
"No, I'm fine," Emma forced out. "But it's a small town, so I'm sure we'll talk again. I'll let you get back to your class."
She waved to Henry, who was watching her, concerned. He waved back, but she could tell that he would be asking her about it later. But for now, she turned and ran, hand pressed against her mouth.
She had just met her mother.
Niall had to say that working with his father was surreal. It was even more surreal considering he was pretty sure that his father remembered the Enchanted Forest and everything. It was defintely the most surreal thing he had ever expierenced, and he had gotten lost in the Echo Cave for two years once.
He wasn't sure if he wanted to laugh or cry.
He was in the back room working on restoring an trunk, buffing the top with some wax, when he heard the front door open. He didn't pay much attention to it, too engrossed in making sure that he covered the top of the trunk evenly. He didn't even look up when the curtain moved a little
"Hey."
He blinked and looked up, taking in Emma's red eyes. He immediately put the rag aside and stood. He poked the head around the corner into the shop. "I'm taking a break. I'll be back."
Gold blinked at him, but glanced back at Emma who looked a little shaky. He nodded. "That's fine."
"Thanks," Niall said, and grabbed Emma's arm, dragging her out the back door into the alley. "What happened?" He asked, wrapping his arms around her.
"I met my mom," Emma choked out, obviously trying not to cry. She buried her face in his shoulder. "She's Henry's teacher."
"Seriously?" Niall asked. "Wow, this family just got more screwed up."
"Shut up." Emma snapped. "I'm having a crisis here."
"Why?" Niall pushed her back slightly, making her look him in the face. "What's wrong?"
"She didn't recognize me," Emma whispered. Niall raised an eyebrow at her. "She looked at me, but she didn't realize who I was."
"Emma, think about it. Even if she had her memories, do you think she would really recognize you. I mean, if I saw Henry for a minute when he was born, then never saw him for twenty-eight years, do you think I would recognize him?" Niall kissed her head, trying not to smile. "I think you've got some unreasonable expectations here."
"So?" Emma muttered. "I never had parents. I'm allowed unreasonable expectations."
"Woman, be glad I love you," Niall sighed, pulling her back. "You are way too high maitenence for me."
"You're annoying."
"You're ridiculous." Niall shot back. "But, seriously, are you okay?"
Emma nuzzled into his collarbone. "No." she took a deep breath. "Maybe." Her fingers curled into his shirt. "Working on it."
He chuckled and pressed his lips to her cheek near her ear. "Glad to hear it." He tucked his nose in her hair. "I love you."
"I love you too. Thank you for putting up with me."
"Any time, babe. You know I'm here for you."
She leaned back to look up at him. "I'm sorry. It was just weird to see her, and know who she was, but she didn't know. She was nice, but I don't know. I felt like a little kid. I wanted a mom right there. Which was stupid of me."
"Not stupid. Love and emotion is never stupid, just illogical. You expected something that was impossible, but that's okay." Niall shrugged. "It's part of being a kid."
"I'm twenty-eight. I don't think I count as a kid anymore."
"Emma, a son or daughter is always a kid when it comes to their parents." His face darkned slightly, but he dipped his head to whisper in her ear. "I'm almost three hundred years old and still feel like a kid in front of my dad."
She choked out a laugh. "Point. Speaking of which, how has your day been going?"
"Wierd." He answered honestly. "Just really wierd."
She leaned back, and he let her go. "I'm a horrible wife," She said. "I come running over here, freaking out, and you're having problems of your own."
"Bah," He shrugged. "I live. It's not like I've never met my issues."
"You're amazing. How did I ever find you?"
"Luck and magic," Niall answered with a grin. "Lots of luck."
Emma lifted up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips against his. He held her cheeks, holding her close. "I think I'm better now," She murmured against his lips.
"Hmm," He hummed. "Doubt it."
She leaned back and smacked him on the shoulder. "Shut up."
"Hey! What happened to my kiss?" He yelped.
"You had to go and start being a jerk." She explained. "Jerk."
"Fine, I see how it is." He sighed. "So what's your plan for the rest of the day?"
"I think I should probably go look around for a job. See if maybe someone needs me for something." She shook her head. "Being alone in the house will drive me mad within a few days."
"You could always unpack a little more." The funiture was up and set, but boxes littered the house. Niall didn't even realize they had that much stuff until they had tried to pack up and move. It was ridiculous, especially considering that two of them had lived in a car for a couple of years.
"If I unpack anymore, I'm going to scream." Emma retorted. "It's like a never ending battle against boxes. I refuse to do it alone."
"Wimp."
"Fine, but when you get home and see me sprawled out on the floor because the box full of books attacked me from behind, you'll be eating those words," She said, lips curled in a smile. He laughed at her.
"Oh, woe is Emma, for she is dead. A great big book fell on her head." He rhymed, opening the back door for her. "Alas her husband, Niall, did cry. For he did not get to say goodbye."
"You know, you're suprisingly good at that."
"Pirate shanties." Niall explained with a grin. "Sometimes you've got to make it up as you go along. Mostly because you're so drunk, you forgot the original words."
"Ah, right, mispent childhood." Emma rolled her eyes. "Give me another kiss and get back to work. I'm sure your boss isn't pleased with the fact that I stole you away."
"He'll get over it." Niall said, kissing her. "Family comes first."
She smiled and made her way back to the front part of the shop. "Sorry for borrowing him, Mr. Gold."
"It's no problem," Gold said, waving a hand. "I presume everything is alright?"
"Better, now." Emma nodded. "I'm just not used to being the one at home. Normally, I'm trying to hunt somebody down. He's the one dealing with mutinies and such."
"She only pulled one mutiny." Niall muttered, leaning on the doorframe. "And it wasn't even that bad."
Emma raised an eyebrow at him. He stared her down, then snickered, "You're right, it was that bad."
"That sounds like an interesting story." Gold said with a raised eyebrow.
"She holds the record for longest suspension for a child under the age of twelve in the greater Tallahasse area." Niall explained, oddly proud.
"You would be proud of that wouldn't you?"
"You gotta pick your battles. We have Henry as our good child. He makes good grades, doesn't get in trouble at school and does his chores. Anna is the child we're wondering if we'll ever have to bail out of jail. I don't want her growing up with an inferiority complex." He shrugged.
Both Emma and Gold stared at him incredulously. "Seriously, out of all the arguments in the world, that's the one you're going with?" Emma asked.
Niall blinked. "Sure, why not?"
Ema shook her head in disbelief. "You're an idiot. And on that note, I'm heading out. Have a nice day, Mr. Gold."
"You as well, Emma," Gold returned as Emma left. He turned to Niall. "Your daughter was suspended for a mutiny?"
"No, my daughter was suspended for tying a teacher to a chair, breaking into the office, and singing 'A Pirates Life for Me' over the intercom," Niall explained with a grin. "We just call it a mutiny for short."
As a rule, Belle did not go to the pawn shop. She was finacially secure, so she didn't need to sell anything. She also didn't want to buy anything either. So many of the items she had heard about that were in the shop were pieces of people's lives.
She knew. She had dusted them enough.
She also didn't go in, because even in this land without magic, her slave chain still worked. It was spotty at best, but the stupid thing of course made it impossible to speak to Mr. Gold. There were very few times she had ever had to try to speak to him, and she ended up just standing there, looking like a fish.
It was downright embarrassing.
However, desperate times and desperate measures. So, she steeled herself, muttered her motto about bravery under her breath, and stepped into the shop.
It was dark and covered in stuff, reminding her so much of home, of the Dark Castle, that she almost burst into tears. She recognized the puppets that had scared her so badly that she had told her love that he had to dust them himself. She gulped, took a deep breath and straightened, heading towards the counter.
Niether men were there, which made her a little nervous. The bell over the door had rang when she walked in, but niether Gold or Niall had come out. She licked her lips and called out, "Niall?"
The curtain that had to lead to the back room moved suddenly, making her jump. She mentally scoldered herself for her foolishness, trying to calm down. Niall rasied his eyebrows at her, but smiled.
"Lacey, right?" he asked, stepping towards the counter. "Can I help you with anything?"
"Oh, no, I'm not here to buy anything. I was wanted to talk to you without Regina. I know she can be a little much." She sighed.
"It wasn't too bad. She seemed a bit nosy, but hey, who isn't?" Niall shrugged.
"Still. I also couldn't help but notice that you and your wife didn't seem to be thrilled by the pie?" Belle ventured, watching him closely. "Not a fan of apple?"
She saw it in his eyes, the flash of apprehension and perhaps a little fear. He blinked it away and grinned, but she had caught it and she knew.
Niall knew about the curse.
"Nah," He said. "Now, pumpkin, pumpkin is my favorite."
"I'll keep that in mind," She replied. "I don't want to welcome you with a gift that you don't like."
"That's really kind of you, but you don't have to go out of your way."
"No, it's no trouble." She smiled brightly. "We never get any new people in Storybrooke, so the fact that you guys are my neighbors is amazing. Besides, I like baking. It's cooking where I get in trouble."
"Is that so, Ms. French?" She felt her heart stop. She glanced back to stare at his brown eyes, which were narrowed at her. She gulped and opened her mouth to try and say something.
Nothing came out.
She licked her lips and looked down, trying to regain her composure. She squeezed her eyes closed, trying to keep the tears from sliding down her face. She glanced up at Gold, then flinched back and smiled sadly at Niall.
"I think I'm going to go. I'll see you later, Niall," She slipped out the door without a second look behind her. She couldn't look at Gold anymore.
She made her way down the street, trying her best to keep herself from breaking down. She couldn't fall apart in public.
She could feel the chain encircling her ankle. It felt tight and heavy, as if it were a large slave chain holding her down. She had never felt more like a prisoner than that exact moment.
To her, it didn't matter if the curse broke or not. She hoped it did, so she could help Regina find her happiness, but it really didn't long as that chain stayed on her ankle, she was cursed. Even if it came off, she had a feeling she was still going to be alone. Her love didn't trust easily, and she knew he thought her to be a traitor.
That was the reason she was trying to save Regina. She knew it deep down. It was only right that at least one of them should be happy. It was just never going to be Belle.
She was cursed the moment she dropped that tea cup.