A/N Wow, holy crap, thank you so much for all the reviews, here's another chapter so soon because you're all so awesome.
"I left her right here!" Snow shouted panicking, while she was still desperately checking everywhere as if the girl was going to appear out of the thin air.
Charming ran over to the bathtub, climbing on top of it, reaching for the smallest window up there.
"It's too small" Snow protested reading his mind.
"And you have to remember she's small too"
"How would she even be capable of it?"
Charming looked at her momentarily, with his eyebrow raised, expression reading 'are-you-really-doubting-someone-who-has-both-of-our-genes'.
He pushed open the little window looking right through it, while Snow prayed.
"She's not here" Charming announced. "I'm going to check outside, stay here, in case she comes out somewhere."
"I won't just stay here!" Snow protested raising her voice.
"Please," Charming took Snow's hands in his, making an eyecontact. "I will find her, I promise"
Snow gulped her tears back, nodding finally. This one promise she knew was true, if there was anything true about her and Charming, it's that they always found each other. He placed a kiss on her forehead, wiping her tears away and dashed out of the bathroom. Leaving Snow heartbroken and alone.
"Emma?!"
Emma gasped, her hand losing a hold of a branch and her entire body went tumbling down saving for her cardigan getting caught on the very end of the last branch holding her from the imminent fall.
She saw the entire ground swaying in front of her eyes and now truly panicked. Rethinking her decisions and choices and crying out in panic she really regretted the situation she's put herself into.
Charming felt like he forgot to breathe. He was one second away from losing his child if not for that very last branch, miraculously catching Emma before she fell down straight into the sidewalk, giving him no chance whatsoever bolt to catch her because it all happened so fast.
One moment he was outside the house, frantically looking for Emma everywhere until his ears caught on a strange sound of the nearby tree, which was conveniently located just next to the bathroom window. He was right after all. Without thinking he screamed out Emma's name which nearly resulted in a fatal mistake and he forgot to breathe and pretty sure suffered a heart attack at the same time.
"Emma, don't move." He said, trying to keep his voice steady. "Just stay there and don't try to move. I'm going to save you"
Emma whimpered in panic, staring at him with pleading eyes. He ran for the tree, climbing with ease, thanking gods, this was one habit that was at least useful even in this realm, carefully, trying not to move the branch so it would not snap into pieces making Emma fall straight down on the ground, he moved with careful precise, extending his hand and grabbing Emma by her waist, pulling her up to him. He let out a breath he realised he was holding. Taking it all in for one second pausing, his heartbeat steadying as he felt Emma's warmth next to his body and she was safe in his arms, he carefully climbed down, still not letting go off her.
"Oh my God, you scared the life out of me" he murmured to himself, kissing her head. Emma was still petrified, her body still in his hands and he quickly picked up his pace hurrying back inside so Snow would be able to calm down knowing Emma was all well.
"Thank gods!" Snow screamed in relief seeing them both enter the apartment and ran for Emma, grabbing her out of David's hands and checking her everywhere.
"Are you hurt? Is it hurting anywhere?" she kept jumbling all words together without giving a chance for Emma to respond. "Where was she?" she looked up at Charming alarmed.
Charming considered for few seconds whether he should tell the truth.
"She was climbing down the tree"
Snow gasped. " HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND EMMA?" she squeaked out stunning both, Emma and Charming, at the same time. "You could have hurt yourself! You could have fallen off! What force possessed you to even consider such thing?" she kept raising her voice. "Do you know how sick worried we were?"
Emma's lip quivered and sobs emerged soon after, eyes filling up with tears now flowing down her cheeks.
"Snow, calm down" Charming rubbed Emma's shoulders.
"No, it's not okay." Snow shot him daggers. "She has to learn she cannot just do these things, it's completely not okay. It's dangerous!"
"I think she learned the lesson" Charming pointed out. "We should really go to Gold's now."
"Now?" Snow looked at him, her mind elsewhere.
"Well after all it took us, I think we really need to figure things out and what we'll need to do from now on" This fathering business was not easy after all. He decided not to tell about nearly falling out of the tree incident, at least not right now. Snow already had enough on her plate "Come on Emma" he took her hand pulling her to go to the door.
Emma's sobs increased.
"Emma, come on" he looked at her confused by her alteration.
"I don't think she wants to go" Snow stated the obvious.
"Emma, what's wrong?"
Emma was crying full force now.
Snow knelt down to face the little girl. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you"
"I DON'T WANNA GOOOOO BACK" Emma wailed in full force trying to pull her hand out of Charming's hold.
Snow and David exchanged confused looks. "Emma?" Snow wiped Emma's tears trying to get her attention, because neither of them understood the sheer panic that was coming from their child.
"YOU'LL TAKE ME BACK" Emma cried more.
"Back?" Snow blinked caressing Emma's cheek
"YOU DON'T WANT ME ANYMOREEEE" Emma pushed her hand away.
The realisation hit them both at the same time.
"NO EMMA"
"WHAT? NO, Emma, noo!" they cried with urgency. "No one's taking you back!" Snow insisted with a determination in her voice. "EVER."
Emma blinked her tears, now paying attention to what Snow was saying.
"No?" she asked wanting to believe but too scared to do so.
"NEVER." Snow repeated. "Oh my God, I can't believe you thought that" she wrapped her hands around Emma holding her in a tight embrace, noticing how full of tears Charming's eyes were. He had so much to learn about Emma and she felt like at this point, at least she was ahead with that. He didn't even have a clue probably how hard Emma's childhood was and what Snow could piece together from little tidbits she'd heard from big Emma when she was merely her best friend.
"Listen to me" she smiled, her eyes wet from fresh tears meeting Emma's. "We want to go outside, so we can get some ice cream, visit someone and then we come back, okay?"
"I don't wanna go" Emma murmured weakly, clearly still not fully trusting.
Snow looked at Charming, pleading for help. Sometimes everything just seemed so hard. It was that fundamental difference from Emma at 28, who required no such thing as parenting or finding the right things to say, explaining well enough to understand what really was happening. It wasn't all sunshine and roses having a second chance, it had many downs as well as ups.
"Well, how about, if we go now, we can come back and a surprise will wait for you?" Charming tried.
"Surprise?" Emma's eyes lit up.
Snow looked at him raising her eyebrows. He just shrugged as a response. She was pretty sure Charming was digging a hole for them both with this. He probably had no clue what he was even talking about.
Emma, in a flash speed, dashed upstairs before Charming and Snow could even blink, then gasp and try running after her, she was back clutching her blanket.
"We can go" Emma smiled shyly. "Emma no leave without blankie" she explained to the two adults staring at her with wonder.
Both were so touched they went to pick up Emma at the same time, holding her between them both, then Charming leaving Snow hold her in the end as they walked outside.
"Well, isn't this a magnificent development." Rumplestilskin leaned down observing the little girl, who seemed frightened by his appearance, unlike the 28 year old who threatened to punch him on various occasions. "I like you much better this way miss Swan" Rumplestilskin smiled pinching Emma's nose who then scrunched up her face in response, hiding behind her father's leg.
Snow squinted her eyes trying to keep her rage in check. "Well, what do you know about this?"
Rumplestilskin ignored Snow White as he raised his hand over Emma's head and there was a mystical glow for a second and before either Charming or Snow could protest they saw Emma's wound disappear as if it had never happened.
"Oh, well that's very interesting" Rumplestilskin said to himself more than anyone else in this room. "Dearie, why don't you go there see Belle, she's making some sort of magical sugary disaster." Emma looked at Charming, who nodded at her, letting Belle take Emma's hand and take her to the back room. Snow glancing nervously at them disappearing though she trusted Belle, but this was her child and she's never been more protective of anything else ever.
"It appears I was right indeed." Rumplestilskin started, having both Snow and Charming's full attention on him. "She has regressed back in time. Curiously so, she landed at the right moment she needed her parents most, without knowing it." Rumplestilskin paused, both Snow and Charming's faces full of feelings.
"Is this permanent?" Snow asked.
"Well, that is hard to say. Magic is unpredictable here. It may be very temporal, it may be not. She is however growing at the normal rate for now. She won't be stuck at this."
Snow breathed the sight of relief.
"But if you didn't do it, then who did it?" Charming looked at Rumplestilskin, still completely not trusting a word.
"You did" Rumplestilskin grinned back.
"Excuse me?" Snow White exclaimed.
"Well, that's all I can see. You have to ask yourself and go through your mind what happened at the time that miss Swan turned into a child. Did you wish for something?"
Snow and Charming both remained silent, completely absorbed in their thoughts too scared to admit anything.
"There's no way…We don't have magic" Charming refused to believe it.
"But she does." Rumplestilskin simply stated. "You see, love is a powerful thing, sometimes, too powerful, I can tell miss Swan loves you very much. Therefore, it is easy to imagine that this power extends as far as you two. "
Charming suddenly gasped. "I kissed her good night" he thought out loud. Snow's eyes widening at this revelation.
"Well there you go. Like mother like daughter, different type of curse of course." Rumplestilskin waved his hand feeling content with his conclusion.
Snow and Charming just stared miserably at him, not being able to even summon the anger. Snow walked over to her husband holding his hand.
"So there's nothing we can do now?'
"Probably not, like I said, it is all unpredictable. However, you should be really careful, if I may add"
Charming looked up at Rumplestilskin, waiting for another low blow. "In outside word, miss Swan had no magic, nor even after coming here. Well, at the present day this town has very much of it and there's one thing a healthy adult handling that and there's another small child suddenly discovering that." Rumplestilskin paused smiling. "Magic is unpredictable and ALWAYS comes with a price."
"Can't you, do something? Please?" Snow now begged desperately.
"As much as I am fascinated by this entire development, I'm afraid I have no idea what we're dealing with. However, if there are any changes you can try me again. I make no promises. Now may I excuse myself, I have things to do" Rumplestilskin said officially ending their incredibly upsetting chit chat.
"I'm going to get Emma" Snow announced meekly, walking into the room behind the curtains leaving two men behind.
"What about Henry? Say Emma stays this way, will he... happen eventually?" Charming asked again, almost too afraid to find out.
"Well I cannot guarantee that, it may be that this way you will alter her future, it might be, that Henry has always been her future regardless of the outcome. We will have to wait and see" Rumplestilskin answered, starting to feel sorry for this family in front. There was one thing he could ever relate, was being a father and how much it hurt when your child was in danger or hurting. "And if I were you, mister Nolan, I'd watch out for our well beloved Evil Queen, as hell knows no fury like a mother scorned. After all, you've taken away the one thing she's stayed human for."
"Henry" Charming replied with a pang of pain in his chest.
Rumplestilskin just nodded, returning to his books as Snow and Emma walked out at that very moment.
"Good luck dearies" Gold called after them, without a reply back as a troubled family walked out of his shop, mulling after all the news they've just heard.