EMMA:

I can't do this. I can't do this. I can't do this. I can't.

I have to.

But I can't. How can I even think of doing this?

I must. For Henry.

We both get in the car, Henry in the passenger seat and me behind the wheel. The goodbyes we just shared are punching a gaping hole right through my chest. I feel empty already and we haven't even left yet. Wonder how I'll deal with that down the road?

You won't have to. Because you won't remember.

No memories…right. But that's the point though, isn't it? I won't remember, but I should. Every moment of these past years should be so clear in my head that I'll never forget a single face or word of it. But I can't: the curse will make sure of that.

My eyes slide to the right, mechanically checking Henry's seat belt, making sure he's secure before I start the engine on the bug. It turns over once and dies, and for once in my life, instead of praying that it starts I almost pray that fate will intervene and that it won't start at all. I turn the key and try again.

There's a groan, and then a steady, growling hum begins to vibrate the entire vehicle around us as the engine comes to life.

Damn. Damn, damn, damn…I can't do this.

Gritting my teeth, I throw the car into gear and sit with my hands on the wheel, grasping so hard my knuckles are white. I have to do this. For Henry, for myself, for…for them.

This has to happen this way, so their sacrifice so long ago in the Enchanted Forest won't be for nothing. I can't help thinking how useless it seems to have waited twenty-eight years for me to break a curse the first time, just to let it un-break now and screw things up again, just when things were finally going right for a change. How's that for irony? The very thing I saved them from is the thing that's going to save them now, and it'll still keep us apart for the rest of our lives. And the kicker is…Henry and I won't remember a single thing about any of it.

What hurts the most right now is how close we all thought we were. Knowing and hoping we were winning—finally winning—only to end up with this as the only viable solution.

Henry turns around beside me, glancing back behind us to have a last look. I won't look. I can't. Because if I ever once let myself see them back there being swallowed up by that cloud of magic, I won't be able to keep driving away from them…but I need to keep going. I really need to get us out of here right now.

My breath is stuck somewhere in my chest, like I can't get enough air. My lungs feel like they're full of something thick and clingy that won't let enough oxygen in. I'm suffocating, drowning. And suddenly I realize that I am drowning...in my own unshed tears.

Damn.

I force my eyes forward as the hole in my chest gets bigger, wider, emptier, more painful. The words of goodbye turn over and over in my head, and my mind grasps at them, the only leverage I dare to allow myself as we speed farther and farther away from home. Soon I won't even have those words to cling to. We move away from Storybrooke, the little impossible town that was, that is, that soon won't even be a memory.

The hole in my chest throbs and I feel myself take a ragged gasp, tears finally dripping down my face. Henry turns to look at me, glancing from me to the road ahead of us over and over again; his own sadness is almost tangible. God, this…this is impossible. It's wrong! It's backwards! It sucks.

We drive, it seems like forever. The hole in my chest aches more and more the farther and farther away we get. We're leaving everything back there, everything but each other. We still have that, thanks to Regina.

My heart throbs, air coming in by short gasps, my hands are clenched around the wheel as we get farther and farther from…from….

Home…?

Oh! Pain twists suddenly in my heart and I suck in a quick series of breaths, trying to take air into my lungs as quickly as I can to ease it. Oh, what was that? My chest burns like I've been underwater too long...or like it does after I've had a good hard run. I breathe in the fresh air blowing in the open windows, the oxygen combating the burn in my lungs. After a moment the ache fades away and I sigh, shaking my head to clear it. I pry my hands out of their death grip on the wheel and wonder what could have brought on the sudden pain.

Warmth moves on my cheek and I wipe a stray tear away in disgust. I'm crying? Well that's ridiculous. That—whatever it was—that made my heart feel like it was being ripped in two. Was it the music? No…nothing's playing, the radio's been off for miles. Huh. Weird. Well anyway, it was stupid whatever it was. I shove the feeling away with a shrug, blaming it on the tiredness that comes of a long trip as we keep driving.

My eyes move to the right to glance at Henry, looking out the windows with a wistful sort of smile on his face, bright eyes staring out ahead of us to take in the road we're on. I smile softly at him and he turns his head, catching my eye and grinning back happily.

God, how I live for that smile.

We'll be home in a few hours. This road trip of ours was a good idea. We both had a week or so of vacation, so we just piled in and took off to see Maine, stopping to explore a few quaint little towns on our way. It was fun, a nice change to get out of the city for a while and have a little adventure of our own. But it'll be nicer to get back home.

Home…to Boston.

Maybe we'll rent a movie and camp out in front of the TV for the night. There's still one day left of both of our vacations, so why not? It'd be a nice cozy way to end a great week.

I glance to my right again and watch my son's bright eyes taking in the scenery around us. God, I love him. It's just us, just him and me like it always has been ever since I first laid eyes on him eleven years ago. I knew the moment I saw him that my heart was his, that it belonged entirely to that tiny little bundle of soft beautiful innocence that had somehow been a part of me for nine months. That was when I knew we had to be together, and I couldn't give him up.

So here we are, and we're doing all right. I wouldn't have my life any other way right now. To hell with anyone else; I only need Henry, and he only needs me.

We make quite the team, he and I.

"We make quite the team…"

The words echo hollowly in my head, spoken in a deeply accented male voice I've never heard before in my life. But it sends a sharp, throbbing lance of sadness briefly across my heart anyway and my smile fades a bit. Something moves on my cheek and I reach up to see what it is, encountering the wet warmth of another freshly shed tear.

What…?

This again?! What the hell! What's brought on all this crying all of a sudden? I shake my head. I don't know what's up with me today. Probably hormones mixed with the strain of a good long road trip, even as relaxing as it's been. I'll be fine once we get back home.

Home…finally.

We're Going Home.

~Finis.