First Way

When Emma and Neal chose a random place to settle down in Emma's hand landed on New York, New York.

So when Regina asked her again after she broke the curse why she spend two years in New York, Emma's mind flashed to first Neal, shoving the heartache away from herself, then to the waitressing job she had there in the '11th Kingdom,' a very successful cafe/bar that boarded Central Park or as Virginia Lewis, the owner quipped the forest of possibilities. The name was a inside joke the owners Virginia and Wolf had.

They were the most lovely dub-by couple she had ever met, well she amended to herself, David and Mary Margret aka mom and dad came close.

Virginia Lewis and Wolf turned out to be family. Oh not real family but the closest she could find without completely opening herself up to them. It suddenly hit Emma the next night after awkward answers that Regina did not buy, when she was at the bar with Ruby that Virginia and Wolf, knew about magic. She wondered why she became friends with Ruby so quickly, and didn't mind a few sniffles there and here. It was because Wolf would do the same, mostly on the coming full moon and Virginia didn't let it become more then unwanted.

Virginia and Wolf helped her become a debt collector, seeing how she could as Wolf would say, 'sniffle out any wrong doing,' after she helped them catch the waiter who was stealing from the cash drawer. Skimming off the top. For three months.

The next day, nursing a slight hungover, Emma curled her hand around her hot chocolate with cinnamon that Henry with a hug gave her, remembering how Virginia did the same, without the hug after a long study session. Emma wondered why Virginia was sad when she quipped, 'we cold girls need to stick together.'

Emma did admit that she was cold and lost back then, even with Virginia and Wolf's help. Once she got what she needed from them, she left without a goodbye, just a note saying they needed to find another waitress.

Now a few days later as Henry, Mr. Gold and herself traveled to New York, Emma's mind didn't go to whoever Bealfire was but to her old friends, maybe she could look them up again if they hadn't moved.

So she was quite surprised to find herself sitting down at the 11th kingdom's newly renovated bar with Neal of all people. She wasn't surprised at the swift right hook Wolf gave her one time lover once he charged from the back, his eyes flashing gold. Wolf was yelling about sad aromas and then as Henry and his grandfather walked into the door, Wolf whirled around and snarled. "Black magic." Then blinked in confusion. "You had a pup?! With him?! Cripes." Then he howled in delight which made Virginia came down to see what Wolf was howling about with her son in tow, the confusion of "grandma?" was adorable.

Thankfully for everyone, it was nearing closing time when this all went down, else the other customers would be very confused.

But it wasn't coming from Henry towards Virginia who Emma admitted she did look like Snow White, but from Henry towards an old lady who was dressed in all black who came marching into the locked bar/cafe with a blonde man behind him. A old heavier set man ran into the locked door and needed to get out his keys to get in. It didn't help that the old lady was yelling about Mr. Gold aka Rump stealing her magic since she didn't have any kids.

Emma couldn't hold back her smirk at Rumple's jaw dropping when they went through the mirror to the Nine Kingdoms. It didn't help that a version of his mother, the Black Fairy was holding tightly to his ear, hissing at him.