Chapter Four

Emma walked up the steps until she reached the door to the loft. She reached into her pocket for the key, pulling it out with a shaky hand. She'd kept it all those years. Holding onto it gave her hope that she could always return home.

Putting the key into the lock and turning it, she opened the door. She noticed that it looked almost exactly the same as the day she left. Instead of feeling her with warmth though, she felt cold; almost like she was an intruder somehow.

Looking around a little more, she noticed that Neal's crib was gone. That was the only thing different. Obviously he didn't need it anymore. Emma looked around, trying to spot a small bed, but she couldn't find one.

Smiling sadly to herself, she looked upstairs. Her room had now become his. The thought made her sad, not because she felt replaced, but because she had missed out. She had missed out on Neal growing up, and her parents had missed out on Eva. It's all because of me.

Walking upstairs, she entered Neal's little nursery. It was decorated with horses. Everywhere, the comforter on his bed, the pictures on the wall, little horse figurines on the dressers. In the far corner she saw the dresser that was once hers. It was still the same as she left it. The picture of her and Henry still was on top of it, and her ship model.

Glancing at it briefly, she tore her eyes away from it, instead opening the top drawer. Inside there were extra sheets for Neal's bed. Underneath all those, Emma pulled out the dagger. Her dagger. Tracing her name softly, she smiled. Finally the feeling of emptiness, of fear, started to dwindle. She felt so much more secure, safer than she had since she entered town. Her headache stopped hurting so much, and she was able to relax.

Putting the dagger into her jacket pocket, she headed back downstairs. She didn't belong here anymore. Her parents didn't need their grown daughter to stay with them; the apartment was way too small. Once Henry brought Eva, there definitely would be no room what so ever.

Considering for a moment going back to Granny's and asking for a room, Emma slunk to the couch. She didn't want to be anywhere near people right now. Figuring she'd rent out a room tomorrow, she lay down on the couch. Closing her eyes, she thought about the day's events. This morning she hadn't even considered the possibility of being in Storybrooke so soon. Yet here she was, home.

But you're not home. You don't live here anymore.

Emma pushed the thought away. Her parents would have no problem with her crashing on the couch for one night. Emma lay staring at the celling for a while before she dozed off.

Snow walked into the apartment, looking around for Emma. Seeing her asleep on the couch, she smiled widely. She walked over to the couch; sitting on the end, looking into Emma's sleeping face.

It felt so nice having her daughter back. Asleep, Emma looked peaceful and free from any burden. Snow knew that Emma had so much going on at the moment, but it was nice to sit here and pretend for a little while that everything was fine.

Even in sleep, Emma seemed to sense that someone was there watching her, because she woke up a few minutes later. She sat up startled, and looked at Snow. Realizing who it was, she sighed in relief.

"Sorry Mom. You scared me." Emma said groggily.

"I didn't mean to wake you." Snow said apologetically. "It's so nice to have you home, Emma."

"It's good to be back." Emma replied. Snow nodded happily.

"I always knew you'd come back, but I'd be lying if some days I lost hope." Snow said sadly.

"I didn't want to hurt you like that, Mom. I just didn't want you to have to deal with this more than you needed to. You had a baby, and I was the Dark One living with you. Sometimes I lost control, and I didn't want you to be afraid of me hurting Neal." Emma explained.

"I understand why you left Emma. I just don't understand why you didn't stay in touch."

"I just… I didn't want anyone to come after me." Emma's voice was barely over a whisper.

"Why not? If you needed to stay away, we still could've come to visit." Snow said sadly.

"I didn't want to be a burden. I didn't want to make everyone leave their home." Emma avoided Snow's gaze. "I did email Dad a little though. I didn't let Henry because I didn't want to risk him giving away where we were. Don't be mad at him, I told him not to tell. I just wanted to know if we were any closer to getting rid of this damn curse."

"So that's how he figured out how to get to you?" Snow said to herself. "And left to get you without letting me know."

"It was hard for me to leave. I didn't want to make that decision for everyone."

"You mean Hook?" Snow asked. Emma's eyes met Snow's instantly. "You know that his home is wherever you are? He told us that many times over the last three years."

"I meant everyone." Emma said quickly. Realizing Emma didn't want to be pushed, Snow dropped the subject.

Reaching into her pocket, Snow pulled out Emma's phone and handed it to her. "Henry texted earlier. I texted back that you were here safely."

Emma took the phone, unlocked it and checked the text. "I told him I'd call him." Emma groaned. "I'm the worst mother alive. Eva's probably asleep already."

"Just call him now."

Emma nodded. Pulling up Henry's number, she called him.

"Hey, Mom."

"Hey Henry. How is everything going?"

"Pretty good. Eva had a hard time going to bed. She kept asking about you. But it wasn't too big of a deal. She fell asleep eventually."

"Thank you so much Henry. I miss you. Both of you."

"We miss you too Mom. It's only a few days though." Henry sounded so positive. The sound of his voice always made Emma feel better. "So did you tell Killian?"

"Yes." Emma sighed, looking at Snow. Snow got up and went to the kitchen to make some hot cocoa.

"How did he take it?" Henry asked.

"As expected." Emma replied. "But he says she wants to get to know her."

"Cool. Did you see my mom?"

"Yeah."

"Was she mad?"

"Not at you. She's furious with me though." Emma sighed.

"Well tell her I love her, and I'll be there in a few days."

"Alright. I will."

"Love you Mom."

"Love you too, kid. Bye."

"Bye."

Emma hung up the phone and joined Snow it the kitchen. Snow handed her a mug of hot cocoa with cinnamon. Emma took it appreciatively. The door opened, and David walked in with a sleeping Neal on his shoulder. Giving Snow and Emma a nod, he walked up the stairs to put Neal to bed.

"Hey Mom, is it okay if I crash on the couch tonight? I'll find a room at Granny's tomorrow." Emma asked.

"Of course Emma! You don't need to ask." Snow said enthusiastically.

David walked down the stairs, and came into the kitchen to join them.

"So… how mad are you?" David asked Snow.

"For what?" Snow tested.

"For leaving all day without telling you where I was." David responded.

"Well, I was worried sick. I almost had the whole town going out to look for you when you two showed up at the diner."

"I'm sorry Snow. I just didn't want to get your hopes up if Emma decided not to come." David explained.

"I was wondering how we were going to get her the information we found. Emma told me that you two were emailing each other." Snow disclosed.

"Dad told me what you found." Emma said.

"What do you think?" Snow asked her.

"I think it's a stretch, but it's something to go off." Emma responded.

"So, you're not mad." David asked.

"Well, I guess since you brought Emma home, I can't be."

David and Emma smiled at each other. Emma picked up her mug of cocoa, taking a sip.

"Tomorrow we can start getting into all of that." David stated softly. "But for now, I'm just glad that we have you back with us, Emma."

"Yes." Emma agreed. "It will be better when I have my kids here too though."

Snow nodded in agreement. "I miss Henry so much. And I can't wait to meet Eva."

"She really is something." David smiled. "I can't wait to get her and Neal together to play."

"I can't wait to get to know Neal more." Emma stated softly. "He's so big now."

"We told him all about you. He knows he has a big sister that loves him." Snow answered fondly. "And Henry must be so grown up now."

"He's practically a man." David sighed. Emma nodded in agreement, feeling awful that her parents had to miss out on so much because of her cowardice.

Emma sat up talking and catching up with her parents for a couple hours, before all three got too tired to carry on a discussion. David and Snow headed to bed. Emma lay on the couch again, using magic to change into some of her pajamas. She left her suitcase in the truck and really didn't want to go down and get it. Magic had its perks after all.

As she lay on the couch, she folded her dagger in a rag, and held it while she fell asleep.