It was at least believed to be a normal day for them. Two people sat down for breakfast. One was a dark haired young man and the other a beautiful blonde woman you wouldn't think much of either of them but they were unique and they would soon be reminded
"Mom, you forgot something." Henry said holding up his hot chocolate
"Right, cinnamon." Emma remembered as she Grabs the sprinkler and gives it to Henry, who pours cinnamon on his hot chocolateThey clink their cups together before drinking.
Suddenly, a knocking comes from outside the door.
"Someone coming over?" Henry asks
"No" emma answered but the person wouldn't go so emma stood and walked to the door she opened it and was shocked
" Neal?" She said as she gazed at the man who fathered her son in surprise
" Emma I don't have a lot of time and I know you may not wanna see me but right now you have to liste-" He said before emma slammed the door in his face. She sat at the table
" Salesman" She said to her son.
FEW DAYS LATER.
Having tried to forget about the visit from Neal Emma went on with her life. And today she went to a restaurant where a man awaits her. Her boyfriend Ed
"Hey"Ed said happy she made it
"Sorry, I'm late. " Emma said
The two chat for a moment before Ed leaves to get the food
While he was gone Neal sat down opposite to Emma.
"You!"she hissed
"I can explain." Neal said
Emma responded "your chance to explain was eleven years ago! Now leave me and Henry alone."
"Don't scream. Just hear me out. I know what you think. But I didn't abandon you it's complicated but I need you to understand. We met up last year " Neal said
"What are you talking about?" Emma asked
" its not easy to explain but I can help you " neal said
"It's time for you to go. Now."
"Your parents are in great danger, Emma. "
"Yeah nice angle."
Neal spoke again "i know but trust me they are in trouble but you don't know them.I'm here to tell you everything yo believed is wrong."
Emma breathed a sigh before speaking "Neal I have a life now if you want to be part of it I suggest no more lies"
Neals face turned remorseful "look, I know you think im a bastard I deserved it for what I did but I can tell you . Here " He handed her a keychain with Henry's name on it. She was shocked
" That's impossible" She said disbelieving
Neal replied "I get it but I'm not conning you I never did "
Emma glared at him "Give me one good reason not to punch you in the face."
"You really don't believe me?" Neal said as He leaned a bit closer "Try using your superpower. Yep, I know about that. Use it. See that I'm telling the truth." He said
Emma could tell he believed it "Just because you believe something is true, does not make it real."
Neal replied "Maybe. Maybe not. I know you, Emma . You sense something's off. When you want to talk.I'll be in Central Park. By the entrance of the zoo. Don't do it for me. Or you. Do it for your family. They need your help. " Neal left
"Hey. What's that?" Ed asks as he sits down.
Emma quickly pockets the keychain."Nothing" she saysA waiter serves Emma a dessert
" Hope you're still hungry. " Ed said
"Ed , dI couldn't eat another bite." Emma said
"You remember our first date? You were being you. " Ed chuckles. "So I couldn't swing a dinner. I brought you here for lunch, which didn't stop you from ordering an ice-cream sundae, which wasn't on the menu. I bribed the chef. They made one up." Emma laughed at the memory
"I remember. I was nervous. Now I'm full." Emma said
"Will you at least look at it?" Ed said as He turns the sundae around so that Emma can see an engagement ring placed on the plate.
"Emma, I don't want to freak you out, but I couldn't wait any longer. I love you. I love Henry. I love our lives together and I wanna have a future together. " Ed said as He stands up and kneels down taking Emma's hand.) "Emma Swan, will you marry me?"
Emma horribly confused by Neal and full of emotion simply left the restaurant
Emma was stunned but Ed followed her"I thought the worst thing that could happen was you'd say no but I never thought you'd walk out on the bill." He said
" Ed" Emma started
"No, no, no. I was gonna pay. It was- I'm kidding." Ed said
"I'm sorry. This wasn't- You just took me by surprise. That's all. A lot of things took me by surprise tonight." Emma said
"Look, surprise was kind of part of the plan but I can see now it was not a great plan. So-" Ed said
"Doesn't it all just seem a little fast to you? I mean, we've only been together eight months.
I've had leftovers in my fridge for longer than that." Emma said
"I know. I threw them out. Might have saved your life." Ed said
"How do you " she pauses"we "pauses"know that this is right? " Emma asked
"Emma, speaking for myself, I've known this was right since the moment you walked into my furniture shop. Why do you think your order was ready two weeks early?" Ed said
"Your commitment to excellence?"Emma joked
Ed chuckled " I couldn't wait to ask you out. It seemed the most non stalkery way to speed things up."
"I do love you. You know that, right?" Emma said
"Yeah, I do. And I love you." Ed said
"I'm not good at fast." Emma said
"I know. I knew who I was proposing to. I knew you would say this is too fast and that's why we don't have to get married anytime soon. We can wait a year. Or more. Look, I don't care if we don't get married until we're 65 years old and Henry already has kids. Okay? All I know is that I wanna spend the rest of my life with you." Ed said.
"Can I have some time to think?" Emma asked
"Take as much time as you need. I will be here when you're ready." Ed smiled at her
CENTRAL PARK.
Neal saw her. Her beautiful face contorted in rage as she walked up to him.
" Emma!"'Neal said happily
Emma stormed up to Neal in anger "How?" She held up the keychain " How do you have this?"
"Henry left it last year I figured it would make it quicker." Neal said
" Make what quicker?" Emma asked " I got my own life to get back to Neal"
" Yes you do so here." He gave her some vial of liquid.
" What is this?" She asked
" Its something you need to drink if you want answers Emma." We don't have a lot of time but you need to drink it if you want to help your family." Emma looked at it for a moment something in her gut telling her to do it. In that moment she decided to sip it just to see if she was right.the memories rushed her mind and she had found finally knew what she was going to do
she looked at Neal " Baelfire" she said making him smile
"Snow and the Queen settled their differences. Hook ran off And me and belle went on a quest to bring dad back." Neal said
" Howd that go?" Emma asked wondering if gold had managed to return
" Found out he couldn't be brought back without the dagger. So we gotta find that now. But bottom line is that we got some horrendous new evil mucking around and that there was a new curse and that everyone had been returned to Storybrooke" Neal said clinking his glass with Emma's
" Howd you avoid it?" Emma asked
" I didn't live in Storybrooke so I was able to get over the line" Neal said shrugging
" Who could have done this?" Emma said
"Someone powerful enough to reach into this world." Neal said
"Any more specific thoughts?" Emma asked
" sorry you're the savior, not me."Neal said
" You know what I was yesterday? A mother. Till you showed up and started pocking holes in everything I thought was real. When I drank that potion it was like waking up from a dream. A really good dream." Emma stated
"Well, you have what matters most. Our son." Neal said
" Now, I have to figure out how to explain this to him." Emma said
" Sorry I didn't have enough for two potions. " Neal said
"Better start figuring out what I'm gonna tell him" Emma said before the doorbell rang
" I'm guessing that's him." Neal said
" No Ed my boyfriend." Emma answered
" Well I'll leave you to talk to him." Neal said understanding
" Thanks wait here." Emma said
"Sorry, my place is just kind of a mess right now." Emma said
"Emma, it's okay to make a bold, romantic gesture without passing it off as a housekeeping malfunction."Ed said
"Ed, I can't marry you." Emma
"It's too soon, huh?" Ed asked
"It's not that? I need to go home and take care of some things." Emma said
"Home? You said you were an orphan. You said it was just you and Henry, that this was your home."Ed said
"That wasn't a lie.There's a part of my life that I've been blocking out, and I think it would be impossible for you to understand." Emma said
"Come on. How do you know that? What changed overnight?" Ed answered
"Someone from my past showed up." Emma stated
"Henry's father? Another ex?"ed asked
"Well yes but it's more complicated "
"Okay, so that's how I'm supposed to sleep at night? You're trading me in for the guy who abandoned you?" Ed said
"It kills me to have to make this choice at all, to leave us behind my whole life." Emma said
"Emma. If you love this life, than keep it. Stay. Just stay. " Ed begged
"I can't. I wish you could see this the way I see it." Emma said
"And I wish you hadn't drank that potion." He said surprising Emma greatly
"What?" Emma said as Ed stood up
He knocked a chair aside in anger stalking towards Emma "You just couldn't leave well enough alone." He growled
"What are you talking about?" Emma said scared
"It's too bad. I actually kind of liked you." Ed smiled
"Who are you?" Emma asked before Ed's eyes turned golden and he growled before leaping at her Emma dodged and Ed went over the edge. She looked Down and saw Ed grabbing a fire escape and climbing up into it. He glared at Emma as his form fell away and in its place was a humanoid hyena type creature.
" What the hell?" She said surprised as the monster leapt at her landing back on the roof.
he growled at her before running at unsheathing his claws Emma grabbed a iron bar and began fighting the monster who she held away as he tried to get her
" Emma!? What the hell!?" Neal said as he ran up through the door distracting the thing long enough for Emma to step out of his way sending him to the ground below as he clawed to stop himself but dark smoke surrounded him and flew away into the darkness
"Emma what was that!? " Neal asked
"A reminder that I was never save. All that I wanted, that I thought I could have was not in the cards for the savior. We leave in the morning" Emma answered