Okay, we're in FTL now :)

Emma felt like she was underwater. She didn't know where she was. Up, down, sideways…it was all the same to her.

She could barely remember anything. All she knew was that the world that she knew, that she grew up with, was gone from her forever. She just knew she would never go back there.

It was never real.

Suddenly she could see something up ahead. She could feel herself climbing to the surface but it was so murky. She tried reaching for it, trying to get to the end of it. She could hear voices and someone's hand on her. She focused on it and pulled herself to it-

And woke up.

She was laying down on a bed. There were people around her, but her senses weren't focused enough for her to see them. She laid back and waited, trying not to bring attention to herself in the meantime. Nobody had noticed she was awake yet and she wanted to keep it that way.

Finally her eyes and ears cleared and she could see that they were maids of some sort, and she was in a grand bedroom on a plush bed. The women were walking around the room, fixing it up and cleaning stuff up. They didn't seem dangerous.

Emma cautiously opened her eyes all the way and slowly began to sit up. By the time she was fully erect one of the maids had noticed her and had stopped moving. The others, seeing her as well, copied their coworker and were now staring at Emma. Emma glanced at all of them, confused and a bit scared. Nobody moved for a few moments.

And then everything started up again. Some of them gasped and some dropped what they were doing and left. One was saying something about how "She's awake. Get the King and Queen!" And some went up to her and started looking her over.

Emma, uncomfortable with everyone in her face, started to swat them away. "Hey! What are you doing? Where am I?" And her voice finally came back, too, apparently.

They wouldn't stop though, despite Emma's protests. And they wouldn't answer her question. They only backed off when they heard others coming towards the door. Emma couldn't see anything, the maids were still in the way. She slowly lowered her feet to the floor, noticing only now the gown that had been put on her. She mentally cringed and prepared herself for who was walking through the door. The maids had lined themselves up, so apparently it was the 'royals' of this place. She could hear two pairs of feet rushing her way and she tensed, readying herself for whatever lay ahead. She could hear them rounding the door threshold and-Found herself looking at a breathless Mary Margaret and David.

No. That's not right.

It was Snow White and Prince James. Her parents.

Mary Margaret- or rather Snow White's hair was long in this world, but her features were the same. Still the kind-looking woman she knew from before, and that calmed her. She had a bit more strength in her posture, the biggest difference from the timid school teacher from Storybrooke. And David- Charming looked exactly the same in physical appearance. It was his eyes and stance that was different. He had more confidence, more bravery in his step. Something so unlike the spineless, cowardly man that cheated on his wife back in the other place.

Their eyes were still locked on her. As though they couldn't believe what they were seeing. Emma suddenly realized what was in front of her. What was really in front of her.

Her family. The people who risked everything so she might have lived better. The people who gave her life and who loved her.

Suddenly the trance seemed to break. Snow and Charming moved from their frozen stance and rushed towards Emma, tears in their eyes. For once Emma didn't feel herself tense up at the oncoming attack.

They reached her and when they did Emma felt arms wrap around her and hold her. Snow was crying and clutching Emma to her body, as though she might disappear. "My Emma, my baby…"she sobbed. Charming had his arms circling both his girls, a tight barrier around the small family. He was trembling with emotion and Emma felt tears drip onto her.

And for the first time in her life, Emma felt truly loved and safe. She felt like she was finally apart of a family, her family. She felt her own tears coming up and she lifted her arms and grasped onto her parents, burrowing into their embrace. She imprinted this into her mind, knowing this was one of the most important happenings in her life. One of her most precious moments.

The three pulled back a little to look at each other. Despite seeing these faces in the other world and knowing them by other names, she couldn't see them as anything other than her parents now.

And then she realized. She did it. She broke the curse. She was home. "I'm home." A smile split her face, she beamed at her parents. They returned it and before she knew it they were all laughing and crying.

Snow framed her daughter's face, brushing hair out of her face, "You are home. We all are." Emma smiled at her. James rested his hand on Emma's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. He looked her in the eye and with more emotion than she's ever seen in her 28 years he said:

"We are so proud of you, Emma. We love you so much." And Emma felt the tears come again.

The tough girl in her was protesting the amount of weakness she was showing. All these years of hardening her walls, not allowing herself to break down in front of anyone, much less the people that abandoned her. But…looking at them now, she knew. They didn't abandon her. They didn't want to let her go.

And now she had them back. She could allow this moment of weakness.

They spent a few minutes kneeling there. Just soaking in the moment, each other, and the fact that it was happening.

A clearing of the throat cut the moment in half. The Charmings turned in one motion towards the door where a maid stood. She straightened up when all three of their attentions were on her, but her training kicked in and she got to the point.

"Your Highness, your guests are waiting in the ballroom."

Snow's eyes widened with realization and she brought her hands to her cheeks, "Oh! I completely forgot!" and she picked herself off the floor. She gestured for them to follow her up and they obeyed. She turned to James.

"I'm going to get her ready. Can you-?" James smiled at her and held her hands to his chest, "Of course. Whatever you need." He leaned in towards her, "Just try to hurry okay?" Snow smiled at him and gave him a kiss. He turned to Emma and gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek, smiling at her with adoration, before following the maid out the door.

Snow swiveled to Emma, a huge smile on her face. Emma quirked a brow at her mom. Both women were chipper, too. That was another similarity Emma found between this world and the counterpart and it made her smile fondly. But then she remembered her confusion, "What's going on?"

Snow's smile got even wider, if that were possible. "Well, after you broke the curse-"

Emma held up a hand, "Wait. You remember Storybrooke? Does everyone?"

Snow nodded, "Yes. The curse let us keep both memories. It caused some…problems, but everything seems to be sorted out now." She waved her hands, "But anyway, everyone got back and woke up. Time has started to move again. And we have you to thank for that." She reached forward and clasped Emma's hands. "So everyone wanted to throw a party, in honor of you and your accomplishment."She smiled widely. Emma thought for a second.

"Wh-what happened to Regina?"

At the mention of the woman's name Snow's bright face darkened, catching Emma off guard. "She hasn't been found yet. We think she's back at her castle, but there is so much magic surrounding it that we haven't been able to see."

Emma nodded absently, thinking about what she said. Suddenly a thought hit her, making her sick that she could forget such a thing. She gripped her mother's hands tightly, fear coursing through her veins now.

"Where's Henry? I saw him in court, but the cloud thingy took me before I could reach him! Is he okay? Is he safe?" She stared imploringly at the other woman, hoping she would give her good news. But by the looks of her expression it wasn't going to be good.

Snow shook her head sadly, "I'm so sorry, dear. We haven't found him, he hasn't turned up yet. Charming sent out as many riders as he could to look for him, scouring the land, but they haven't been able to locate him." She squeezed Emma's hands, "I'm so sorry, sweetheart."

Emma was numb. She had finally, finally, gotten her family back. But at the price of what? Henry was lost to her. She knew that Snow wanted her to have hope, but she was sinking into a melancholy that she didn't see an end to. If anyone should be here, it should've been Henry. He was the one who believed in this stuff. He's the one who got her to believe.

And now he couldn't see the product of his faith.

Snow could see the turmoil in her daughter's face and her heart broke for her. "I-I know that you must be thinking that…he won't show up." Emma's eyes slowly looked up at her. "That…because he wasn't a part of the original curse that…he's gone." Snow bit her lip, cautious of how to continue, feeling her lack of experience as a mother hitting her hard. She took a deep breath, "But you have to have faith. Have faith that you will find him." She tilted Emma's head up and smiled softly. "It's the only way to go on."

Emma swallowed dryly, feeling the despair curling around her heart despite her mother's words. She nodded regardless, "I-I'll try, but…it doesn't look good," she exhaled deeply.

Snow nodded sadly, "I know. I'm sorry."

A silence overtook the room. Both women stood in thought. Finally the footsteps of another maid snapped them out of it. "My Queen," she began, but Snow waved her off, "We'll be there in a second." She smiled at the woman and the maid left to go inform the King.

Snow turned back to Emma, her smile tinged with regret. "We have to get ready," she said carefully. Emma nodded. Snow took her by the hand and led her to the dresser.

"Okay, let's see what we have here."

Emma couldn't believe she was wearing this.

Somehow her mother had talked her into wearing this dress. Something about needing to at least act like the princess she is, at least for now. It was an off-white fabric, something that went well with the idea of her being 'the savior'. It was off the shoulders and it flowed to the ground. There was a fabric belt around her waist, the tie falling down the front of her dress like a robe. The sleeves were long and reached past her knuckles in a point. Her hair was down and natural. And there was a crown nestled in her hair. It was white silver and intricate, 'and very beautiful' she thought.

At the moment she was walking behind her mother, who was wearing her own gorgeous gown. Her crown sat atop her head, much larger and much more beautiful than hers. Emma thought that her mother was so lovely, she truly did look the way Snow White had always been described in all the versions of the fairytale. She still couldn't believe that this was her mother, that she was related to such a person.

They were walking towards the ballroom, where the masses were supposed to be held. Emma felt a little nervous, wondering if the meeting with all her friends from the previous world would transition smoothly into this one. She wondered what they'd look like, if they were the same people.

She was scared.

The huge doors loomed ahead, and Emma tried to gather her wits. She needed to act the part, she needed to be a princess. If not a girly one, then a noble one. Snow stopped before the doors and Emma walked to her side. Both seemed to square their shoulders as one, and shared a look. At that moment Emma understood that her mother wasn't the perfect royal she portrayed. She wasn't as confident about these things as Emma thought. They were both nervous. And because of this, Emma was thankful. She could connect with her mother even more, and that made all the difference. Her mother grasped her hand and Emma drew strength from it.

Snow gave her an encouraging smile, and Emma took it and tried to replicate it. She didn't know how well she fared.

They turned back to the doors when they began to open. Emma took one last gulp of air, closing her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, she was greeted with a crowd of people. Some familiar, some not. She could see her father standing at the throne near the front. He was waiting for them.

'Well,' she thought, 'I've gotten this far. There's no turning back now.'

And locking arms with Snow White, Emma Swan walked into the ballroom, and into the next chapter of her story.

Kind of a cliff hanger. I'm just cutting it off here because the next part will be even longer (I think) so I wanted to get this part out now. Hope you guys like it. I always wanted that reunion between Emma and her parents, and I wanted it to be a happy one. She deserves it. And since they haven't done it in the show, I did it here, and my way. Despite the majority, I like David/Charming, and I wanted to not only have Emma's relationship with her mother, but also to have Emma's relationship with her father flesh out. I think she'd be a real daddy's girl :) So there'll be more of that later.

On a sort of off topic - I saw SWATH (twice so far, actually) and it was amazing! I love Eric/Snow, and surprisingly Kristen Stewart did an amazing job with her role. I wonder if anyone else thought the same? :)

Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter, sorry it was so short. Please review and let me know what you think :)