The prodigal daughter

wickedjewels94 asked for a oneshot Emma running away from her responsibilities in the Enchanted Forest and Red coming and comforting her. This is also for bluerose921 :)

Emma was finally past her breaking point. A speech to open the Summer Ball, really? Her parents knew how much she hated talking to crowds! Why couldn't they do it? Or Neal, or Rosie? Why was it always her who was made to do the hard things? Who cares if she's the eldest, that shouldn't mean she always gets shoved with stuff! No, they could stuff their Summer Ball, in fact, they could stuff everything! After her parents had made it very clear that she was making this speech, Emma knew she wasn't staying. She'd packed a bag with a couple of changes, some food, water and her weapons. Her sword attached at her side and her bow and quiver slung over her shoulder. She'd found a perfectly decent cave that would make for a good shelter whilst she figured out where she would go exactly. The issue was, her face was well recognised, obviously, in all the villages of the kingdom. If she was spotted it wouldn't be long until she was frog marched right back home. She was going to have to travel at nights, and stick to the forest as much as possible. That made a cave the ideal place to be for her last night. It was dark enough inside that sleep was quite easy.

Emma awoke with a start when she heard a noise coming from the entrance of the cave. She quickly got up, pulling out her sword. She listened carefully. It was feet- but not two. Four. Judging by the sound pattern it wasn't two people, but one animal. Animals hated fire. Emma grabbed a stick she'd kept to create torches and shoved it into the fire to create one. She held it out defensively in front of her.

"Back off!" She yelled. "I'm not frightened!" She waved the torch menacingly, which was enough to send most animals scurrying. But not this one. It just stared at her. Emma then realised why. It was a wolf- a werewolf. Her aunt Red had found her.

"How?" Emma sighed, dowsing the flame in the small bucket of water she kept by the fire.

"Emma, I'm a werewolf." Red said after changing. "Of course I was able to track you. Why do you think your parents sent for me as soon as they realised you were gone?"

"Well it doesn't matter anyway. You can pass on to them that I'm not coming back. Neal should be next in line anyway, it's meant to be a boy." Red came over and sat down beside her goddaughter.

"You know your parents changed that because they didn't think it was right that you should be discriminated because of your gender." Red reminded her. "They're worried about you." Red said, gently bumping shoulders with her.

"No they're not. They're worried they'll look silly when they say I can't make the speech at the stupid Ball." Emma grumbled.

"Emma, that's just not true. They're worried because their daughter is out here all alone where anything could happen. They're searching themselves right now. Emma, I have rarely seen your parents cry. But when they called me to the castle to tell me you'd ran away they were in pieces. Emma, they've given you this speech to do because they know you can do it. They want to show you how much faith they have in you. They trust you Emma, maybe you should trust yourself."

"But what if I mess up?" Emma said quietly. "What if I disappoint them?" Red wrapped her arms around the young girl.

"You won't. Your parents know you can do this, I know you can do this, trust yourself kid."

"Will they be mad at me for leaving?" She asked, clearly scared.

"No honey, not at all. They'll just be glad you're back safe and sound. Come on." Red helped Emma up and slung her bag over her shoulder. She knew Emma would be fine writing the speech. She had every faith in her.