Little heroes

Lucia asked for a oneshot of Neal and Emma both being grounded by their parents. There was an emergency and Snow and Charming told them not to go out and Emma stay with Neal. But both of them wanted to help so they have to sit in a chair and think about what they have done. Emma will be ten and Neal will be eight in this chapter.

There was absolute silence in the room. The pair had been told not to utter a single word until their parents returned. Well, they never were very good at doing what they were told, otherwise they wouldn't be here in the first place.

"Your fault." Emma mumbled under her breath to her brother. The pair were in the middle of the large room, sitting on chairs with their backs to each other with only a wall to look at.

"Was not." Neal hissed back.

"Was too."

"Was not."

"Was-"

"Which part," came the very stern voice of their mother "of not a single word did the pair of you not understand?" Emma and Neal both hushed immediately, hunching down in their chairs. They didn't need to look at their parents to know that they were furious. King George's men were making a fuss just outside of the castle. The knights had come and requested the assistance of the King and Queen. Snow and Charming occasionally took their children along if battles were going to last more than a few days but they were never allowed to leave the tent. It just meant that the parents knew nobody would raid the castle and take their children in their absence. But today the battle would only last a few hours if that, and the children would be far safer inside the castle. They told their children to stay put and continue their lessons, but Emma and Neal felt their fighting skills were good enough now that they would be able to help. They were still not allowed to fight with real swords, but both were now allowed to use a real bow and arrows, but only with supervision. The children felt today would be their day to prove themselves. So off they went after fetching their bows and arrows sneaking off to where the action was. Neither got a chance to fire so much as a single arrow before one of George's knights was upon them. Fortunately for them, their father seen what was going on and managed to fight the knight off. Snow then saw her husband scolding their children and joined in herself. One of the servants was instructed to take them into the ballroom and seat them like they were until the battle was over and their parents could come and deal with the situation. Snow's parting words to her children being that not a single word was to be uttered between them. And of course the first thing she heard coming into the room was them arguing. Snow and Charming came over to their children, both of whom were staring at the floor.

"Would one of you kindly explain why you both decided to risk your lives today?" Snow asked in a forced calm voice. Neither child answered.

"Oh, now you've lost your tongues? Well, let's see if this will loosen them. We'll start the grounding at three months. Talk quickly your time will be cut short. Take too long and time will be added." Snow threatened. Suddenly both children were now talking far too quickly. "Quiet." Snow told them. They both hushed. "Emma, you're normally the schemer of the pair of you, you can explain what happened. But I do not want to hear a single blame, alright?" Emma nodded.

"We just wanted to show you both we can help fight now." Emma said quietly. "So we got our bows and arrows and went to help…but before we could daddy took over…"

"Took over?" Charming interjected. "Emma, he could have killed you both! Had I not took over goodness knows what would have happened to you both! You're children, and these are skilled knights!" Emma's bottom lip quivered and Neal started to squirm slightly.

"You will both be grounded for a month. You will also each write a three page essay on why what you did was wrong and how much it could have hurt mommy and daddy. And no fighting lessons for two months. Got it?" Snow said.

"Yes mother." The both replied in unison.

"Good. Then the pair of you march up to your rooms right now. We will come get you for dinner. Your behaviour between now and then will decide if you get dessert or not." Both children got up silently and shuffled out of the room heading for the stairs. Only when Snow was sure they were safely out of earshot did she give her husband a small smile, to which he returned.

"They really are our children, aren't they?" Snow sighed. Charming nodded.

"Very much so. You do realise they're both going to try and sneak out at least once right?" Charming said, amused. Snow nodded.

"I don't plan on keeping them grounded the whole month. A couple of weeks should do it. I know they meant well, but if you hadn't been there…" Snow shuddered before reaching up and kissing her husband.

"Thank you for saving our children." Charming wrapped his arms around her.

"I think I'll have to do it more often if this is the kind of thanks I get." He teased. Snow rolled her eyes.

"No more saving them. They won't need to be saved because they'll both be behaving themselves." Snow said, earning a raised eyebrow from Charming. "That's never going to happen is it?"

"Nope." They both shared a small laugh. Who could blame their children? It's not really their fault they inherited the hero gene.