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Alas, I do not own OUAT…but that would be awesome…

"I'm from the Enchanted Forest."

Every life has a defining moment; one of those moments that stops you in your tracks and completely re-evaluates everything you have ever known and flips it all on its head. This was Emma Swan's.

The words reverberated around her head, getting louder and louder until all that remained was an all-consuming drone pounding against her lobes. Pressing the heel of her hand against her forehead in an attempt to alleviate the painful bewilderment, she squinted, praying she had heard wrong.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?"

Neal pursed his lips, his forehead scrunched, his whole body language unsure. "You know what I said, Em." If she didn't know better she thought he sounded ashamed.

Well, too bad.

"Neal," she stressed through gritted teeth, her hands now gripping the counter to keep her steady. "What are you talking about? What's…what is going on?"

He ran a hand along his jaw. "I'm from…over there," he garbled, waving to the door for emphasis. Talking with his hands was kind of his thing, his personal signpost. "The Enchanted Forest. Fairytale Land. Whatever you want to call it."

He had lied to her; everything he had ever told her wasn't real. He spent their whole time together pretending to be someone he wasn't. Suddenly all of the things he had told her, all the details he slipped about his past, ricocheted through her memory; the places, the time, the words still as fresh as the day they happened.

Any anger she had for him before this multiplied in severe amounts, her breath coming in fast, swooping goes. "No, no!" she defied, pointing at him. "No!"

"Emma…Emma I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry!" he defended, rising from his chair.

"How?!" she shouted, her face red like pale sunburn.

He looked at her curiously. "How what?"

She steeled her gaze. The temperature in the room dropped in an instant. "How did we meet if you're from over there? Why weren't you cursed too?"

Neal scratched behind his ear the way he used to whenever he was avoiding something. "Uh, I left there a long time ago," he shrugged. "Had to get away from all that crap; I ended up here."

"And how do you think that happened, huh? How do two people – both from the same land – meet each other in a random city in this world? I mean, what are the odds of that? Tell me, Neal, I want to know!"

He raised his arms out wide, "How am I supposed to know? I was just as freaked out as you were when I found out – probably more. I spent my whole life trying to distance myself as far away as possible from that place and everything to do with it and to find out that my girlfriend was destined to break some weird-ass curse? I mean, come on!"

"Well it's a hell of a coincidence! If I've learned anything about how these people live it's that nothing just happens here; everything happens for a reason. And you knew," she challenged. "You knew who I was, what I was supposed to do and you left me."

"How many times do you want me to apologise?"

"I'll let you know when you get there," she countered, flicking her hair off her shoulders.

Neal, looking at her with his soft, understanding eyes that would have melted her eleven years ago, let out a deep sigh. "Look, I don't know why we met, I don't know if it's part of some big plan or whether it was fate playing some kind of cruel joke but maybe there was a reason we did. Maybe there's more to it than just us meeting and having our hearts broken."

Ignoring the 'our hearts' part of his little speech was the preferred option for Emma. She was too consumed with an overpowering desire for information to entertain his romantic notions - she couldn't let him get off that easy. "Well, do you have any family here?" she blurted, thinking about her own situation. "I mean, God, Neal you probably have people here who thought they'd never see you again!"

To her surprise, he became angry. "What, you're going to lecture me about family? Emma the orphan gives family advice now?"

He was lucky he wasn't standing near her because she would have slapped him so hard his face would have blistered. "No you do not get to turn this back on me! What are you hiding, Neal? Huh? 'Cause I know you're hiding something. You haven't changed that much – in fact you haven't changed that much at all. You're still the same old Neal Cassidy flitting through life, happily ignoring the real world, doing his own thing."

"That's what you think of me? What about all those times I took care of you? Provided for you? You didn't think I was like that back then!" His voice rose as he jabbed the air with his fist.

Emma was livid. Her blood boiled, her hands clenching and unclenching. She knew she was verging on dangerous territory, she knew she had to stay calm for both her sake and Neal's but it was so hard to be around him and not feel the barrage of emotions that she associated with his face. God, she just wanted to slap the stupid red kettle Mary Margaret had insisted they buy right off the counter; just wanted to smash something and feel the relief as it collided with the ground in sensational fashion.

She couldn't help it. Eleven years of pent-up feelings were liked caged animals clawing to be unleashed. "Took care of me?! If by 'taking care of me' you mean letting me take the fall for one of your screwed up jobs and letting me do time then yes, Neal, I'm so damn grateful!" She charged over to him, standing mere inches from his chest. "And how about telling me you loved me and then dropping out of my life like that?" she argued with a snap of her fingers. "Or lying to me the whole time when you were from over there? When did you know about me Neal? How did you know we were from the same place?"

He closed his eyes. "I didn't know initially, I swear. I met you and I thought I had hit the jackpot; I'd found a girl I connected with, who understood me, who I could see being with for the rest of my life. I didn't find out about your…your lineage until August showed up."

"What is his part in all this?" Her voice finally plummeted to her normal register but her mind reeled from all the information it had been trying to process. This felt like some big, elaborate, twisted joke.

Neal huffed, his whole body performing the action. "He showed up the night I – the night I left." Emma gulped. "He explained everything to me – all about your destiny and all that stuff. I had to leave you, he told me that. You had a job to do and I couldn't stand in the way. He knew who I was and knew that I would understand that I couldn't be around."

"So you're saying August told you to send me to jail? You realize he's Pinocchio, right?!"

"I didn't know you'd end up in there! He promised me that he'd look out for you!"

"Yeah…well he did a stand up job," she snarled with sarcasm. "Jail is such a growing experience. Everyone should try it," she added, flinging her arms into the air.

"I'm sorry, Emma! I really am." As much as it annoyed her, his words burned with sincerity, his tone coloured with nothing but honesty. "God, I didn't want to leave you. I never wanted to leave; you have to believe that."

"But you still did," she retorted.

"I wanted Tallahassee. I wanted it with you. Leaving – walking away from us was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. And I've tortured myself every single day about that decision, wondering if I had stayed what would have happened, wondering if we were meant to be," he said. She rolled her eyes. "The truth is, and I only just figured it out, I couldn't move on properly until I knew that you were okay. And then one day it's raining and I'm in my apartment and this bird flies through the window with a postcard that says 'Storybrooke'. I knew it was from August. So I did some digging, left him sign so we could communicate and I got another postcard with map coordinates with an instruction to 'Keep on Driving'."

Emma backed away with her arms folded across her chest, giving nothing away. The room felt smaller, somehow, like she couldn't get far enough away from him. "The curse broke months ago; why show up now?" she questioned, the words coming out in one mighty rush.

Neal shoved his hands into his pockets, his head dropping. "I was afraid," he admitted.

Inhaling deeply in trying to relieve her stress, Emma relaxed her stance and allowed her arms to fall by her side. "Who were you in the Enchanted Forest?"

"Emma it doesn't-"

"Who were you?" she pushed. "The fact that you haven't told me once makes me suspicious. What's the big mystery?"

He clucked his tongue and kicked the air, looking as though the weight of the world sat on his shoulders. "I suppose you know who the Dark One is? Rumplestiltskin?" He did some weird hand movement but Emma had no idea what it signified.

"Yeah," she replied warily.

She had never seen someone's eyes flick so recklessly around a room before. "He's my…father," he confessed angrily.

It was as though all the air had been sucked out of the room. That feeling of being in an enclosed space with only a limited amount of air and room to manoeuvre. She couldn't breathe; couldn't think straight.

"Oh my God," she whispered once…and then about a hundred more times in quick succession in ranging tones and volumes. At some point Neal tried to calm her down but she blocked him out, her thoughts falling on Henry and then Gold and then herself and then her parents. Their family tree was now severely messed up.

"I don't believe this!" she exclaimed, her hands raking through her hair. "I don't believe this!"

"Emma, calm down okay?" He must have been feeling brave because he grabbed her arms to stop her from moving. "You need to just…calm down."

"Calm down," she laughed curtly. "That's everyone's answer here. 'Calm down, Emma, it's just a curse that you need to break and everyone's depending on you'; 'Calm down, Emma, your parents are just Snow White and Prince Charming and the same age as you'; 'Calm down, Emma, you just fell through a portal to another land'; 'Calm down, Emma, you just nearly died because you have magic'. I'm just supposed – or expected, even – to deal with it all, take it all in my stride, act unfazed by the abrupt twists and turns that keep on happening to me. I'm not allowed to freak out or get emotional or get angry or sad or whatever." While his hands stayed put his hold loosened. "And it gets tiring," she proclaimed, finally meeting his gaze. "Everything just keeps happening to me! I don't even know who I am anymore. I have more answers now than I ever imagined but it just…it just keeps getting more and more complicated and I don't know how to handle it."

Neal moved his hands gradually from her arms up until he was framing her face. "It'll be alright. Everything will work out, you'll see."

No she wasn't going to fall under his spell anymore. Not when he delivered that particular piece of news to her. With her now free arm, she shoved his hands away from her forcibly, startling him. "You're right; it will work out. It always does. But you're not going to be here to see that happen."

"Emma-"

"No Neal. You said you came here to see if I was okay? Well I'm fan-freakin'-tastic so you can go now."

He shook his head. "I'm sorry." And he was; she knew that. It didn't change anything though.

"Go pay your dad a visit, Neal. Or get out of Storybrooke."

If he had an argument he didn't use it. With another one of those pouty puppy-dog faces he mouthed yet another apology before turning on his heel and stalking out of the room, the sound of the door clicking shut the only indication that he had left.

And Emma was left to try to configure her thoughts into some coherent pattern in the eerie silence, but there was only one thing she wanted to do: talk to her Mom.

Snow hadn't been able to concentrate since she got that call from Emma. Her daughter didn't really say much other than she needed to talk to her as soon as she got home, but she was quick to assure Snow to take her time, that there was no rush but something unexpected had come up and she needed her advice.

A thousand and one thoughts flung around her mind until she settled on one: whatever was going on with Emma was to do with that man David had mentioned to her earlier. Was he Henry's dad? Snow would be lying if she wasn't curious about her identity of her grandson's father and it was entirely possible that this man – this Neal somebody – was him. It would explain the blonde's sketchiness.

Whatever it was though, Snow was going to be there to help her in any way she'd let her, but a call from her best friend snapped her out of her reverie and she blinked, focusing on the woman in front of her.

"What do you think about this one?" Ruby raised a very short sequined number – red of course – in front of her before holding against herself for Snow to judge. That had been the routine for the past few hours and but so far they'd come up short.

Nothing really worked considering Ruby had no idea where Whale intended to take her. How does one dress for a surprise?

Snow hummed. "That depends; where's the rest of it?" she teased with a wry grin.

"Stop it!" Ruby cackled, putting the dress back on the rack. "I wasn't crazy about that one anyway. Why is it so hard to find something?"

"Probably because Storybrooke can't cater for your specific fashion needs," she quipped.

"Oh whatever," her friend drawled, rolling her eyes. "I just want to look right for tonight. Things have been going really well lately and I don't want to screw it up."

Snow cupped her elbow, forcing her to look at her. "A dress isn't going to make or break your relationship, Ruby. You could wear a paper bag and Whale would still be drooling over you."

She smiled widely. "It's just…I haven't felt this way about anyone since Peter, you know? And I don't know, I'm just worried over the little things, I guess. It was a miracle Granny even let me go out with him the first time. I guess when you eat your boyfriend it warrants a little overprotection."

"It's not like she would have actually stopped you."

Ruby quirked an eyebrow. "Are you kidding me? Have you seen her crossbow? I'm not getting in the way of that."

Snow let out a soft chuckle before becoming thoughtful. "I'm happy for you Ruby. I know how hard it was for you since Peter and though you've never said aloud, I know you've struggled since the curse has broken and I'm sorry I haven't been able to be there for you."

The long-haired woman shook her head profusely. "No, no, Snow. You've had way more important things to worry about than me. And I'm okay now. It was just a slight identity crisis – no biggie."

"I always worry about you, Red. You're my family, too, so please don't ever think that you're not important to me." She leaned in and wrapped her arms around her best friend who reciprocated with zero hesitation.

"Red?" she asked, rubbing circles on Snow's back. "I don't think anyone's called me that since the curse broke."

"Maybe we can alternate between the two; try it out for a while," she replied with a smile as they broke apart.

"I think I'd like that," Ruby affirmed.

Without even realizing she was doing it, Snow checked the time, her mind drifting to Emma again.

"You know, that's like the billionth time you've done that this past hour."

"I think that's a slight exaggeration."

"What's up?" Ruby posed, looking at another dress. This one was strapless.

Snow tilted her head from side to side. "Got any advice for mothers dealing with their daughters who're the same age as them?" Ruby clamped her lips together, her eyes sympathetic. "Emma called and said she needed to talk to me as soon as I get home."

"Any idea what it's about?"

She bit her bottom lip in thought. "I think it might be to do with that guy that crossed the town line today. Emma knows him."

"Wait," Ruby out a hand out in front of her, "someone crossed the line? Like, an outsider?"

"That would be a yes but don't worry, he just needs to get his car fixed up and then he'll be on his way."

"Well good because the last thing this town needs is visits from over…there."

Snow nodded.

"And Emma knows him? How?"

"I have no idea," she sighed, closing her eyes briefly.

"She'll tell you, don't worry. You guys tell each other everything. Whatever's eating at her, she'll spill it."

The woman scratched her arm, distracted. "I hope so. We weren't exactly on the best of terms this morning when she left. I brought up magic lessons with Regina."

Ruby stopped rifling through the various dresses and snapped her head to the side. "Wait, what?"

"Long story."

"I want to know."

In the distance Snow discovered her rescue from the conversation. It's not that she didn't want to tell Ruby, she did and she would, but she was just so tired worrying about it. "That can wait," she proposed, scuttling over to a mannequin. Ruby followed her. "I've found the dress."

A red dress that suited every occasion – casual yet flirtatious if they were doing something low-key, and, with a few accessories, dressy enough for something a little more up-scale. It also covered everything that needed to be covered which was always a plus.

"Snow White you are a revelation," Ruby marvelled, rubbing the fabric in between her fingers. "Whatever would I do without you?"

"Let's hope we never have to find out again."

Following Deputy David's call – that was what he had dubbed him, Neal made his way over the garage to collect his car after spending a long time trying to keep a low profile in the town. Keeping his head down, his shoulders hunched as he weaved his way around the quaint infrastructure, all he did was pray that he didn't run into him. He wasn't ready to see his dad yet. Actually, he wasn't sure if he wanted to see him at all.

He'd grappled with that for a long time, weighing the Pro's and Con's endlessly, always coming to an inconclusive answer. His dad promised to never leave him, that nothing would separate them. But then he had the gall to choose magic over him and let him slip through a portal into another world all by himself. What a coward. A coward who hid behind his reputation and power and darkness to rise to the top, instilling fear on those he crossed. A coward who preferred to be that way instead of being a father.

How could someone do that?

Neal loved his dad; deep down underneath all that scar tissue that being abandoned had left him with, there was still this undeniable want to be reunited with him – a want to reconcile their differences. He just wasn't sure when he'd be ready to take that step.

He set his sights on the garage ahead on the horizon line, his walk a little more urgent than intended. Across the street he noticed a young boy chatting animatedly with what he assumed was the kid's mother, and every so often they looked in his direction. Maybe it was pure paranoia talking but he couldn't help but feel like they were watching him. Which was ridiculous.

He kept on walking.

Suddenly the kid raced toward him with his mother sauntering behind him. The way she walked – well, it was almost regal-like. Like she had power.

"Hi," the kid beamed, brimming with enthusiasm, "are you lost?"

Though he didn't know him, Neal found himself smiling along with his infectious manner. "Uh…no, no. I'm going to pick up my car."

"Oh. Sorry. I just…I haven't seen you around here before."

Neal exchanged a weird glance with the woman. Her eyes were cold, calculated; her expression stern. He took a step back involuntarily. "Uh, that's because I'm not from here; I live in New York. I just got into a little accident and had to get my car fixed up."

"You're from New York?" That was the first time the woman spoke. Brash tone.

"I'm sorry, where are my manners? I'm Neal." He outstretched his hand out to the kid.

He took it straight away. "Henry." He must have had the happiest, toothy grin Neal had ever seen. And his eyes were inquisitive, too. Warm and inquisitive.

"Nice to meet you, Henry."

She cleared her throat. "I'm the Mayor, Regina Mills." Neal shook her hand, too.

"Well it's nice to meet both of you but I really should get going."

"How'd you get your car to town?"

That was a bit of an odd question. Right? But he felt compelled to answer anyway. "I sort of ran into the Sheriff and her Deputy. They were kind enough to sort it all out."

"Oh, so you've met my Mom," Henry enthused. The Regina woman flicked some hair off her face looking less than amused.

My Mom.

Neal's breath hitched, his head swimming. "Wait, Emma's your mom?"

"Yeah."

"I thought…" he trailed off, his eyes meeting Regina's.

"Oh she's my mom, too; I was adopted."

Adopted?

He tried to keep his heart steady so as not to come off any weirder than what he already did. "How old are you, kid?"

"That's none of your business," the mayor snapped, bringing Henry toward her.

Great. Now it looked way worse.

"Sorry I shouldn't have asked. That was…that was dumb of me. Look, I better go."

He started his journey again, desperately trying to ignore the voices in his head.

"I'm eleven," Henry called from behind him, stopping him mid-step. He twirled around.

"Eleven?" he breathed, doing the calculations in his head. So much for keeping his heart steady.

His mother eyed him nervously.

"Yeah," the kid shrugged, completely carefree.

"Uh, wow, that's…great. Eleven's a great year. You're gonna have a blast."

Neal smiled but it didn't reach his eyes.

"What exactly are we doing here?" she asked, struggling.

The woman's eyes were cool and composed. Menacing. "Oh, my dear, you are my leverage in case my plans stray off path."

She continued to fight, casting hurried, concerned glances to her friend next to her.

"I would have thought you'd be happy to be here," the woman said, a curl in her voice. "A brand new start. A new adventure. And you like adventure, don't you? A strong woman like you thrives in a new environment."

"Is she still going on and on?" He ambled into the room, all self-assured and brooding.

"Ah, she meant no harm. We were just conversing."

"Yes, well I do wish she had an off-button - much like her companion."

The woman laughed, all notes malevolent. "Oh don't worry; when we arrive I'm sure her tune will change."

"Here's hoping." He picked up the sack from the floor, toying with it in his hands before shoving it over her head.

She knew there was no point in fighting right now.

So what'd you guys think? I was really worried about the Emma/Neal scene so I hope it was okay! I just wanted Emma to be outwardly angry rather than bottling it and saving it for later. And I felt she wouldn't be so forgiving so I decided to leave it on a sour note. Anywho, I really hope you guys enjoyed it and any feedback would be so appreciated! :)