Emma's fate
RockinJ'RodeoRebel asked for a oneshot of Emma talking to her parents about being jealous of Pinocchio for getting a second chance at a childhood.
Emma sat quietly on the couch. Today had been a very long day. Snow and Charming would occasionally glance over at her to check she was doing ok. Emma knew her parents were watching her, they weren't masters of subtlety.
"Why do you both keep staring?" She eventually asked them as she became fed up of feeling them bore holes in the back of her head. Snow and Charming both felt their cheeks becoming warm at being caught out.
"We just want to know that you're alright." Charming owned up. "Seeing August, I mean Pinocchio, turn back into a little boy, well that can't have been easy for you." Emma shrugged in reply.
"I guess." She answered. "I mean, it seems a little unfair he gets his second chance, but then again he did have to die to get it. Seems quite the price." Snow and Charming knew Emma was more hurt than she was letting on.
"It's alright if you're upset by it, you know." Snow prompted her. "We were." Emma looked up at her parents and Snow knew she wanted more of an explanation. "We know he had his reasons, but Geppetto is still the reason I couldn't go through that wardrobe with you. Seeing him get a second chance with his son stung a little. Shouldn't we be the ones getting the second chance with you?"
"Yeah well fate never really liked me did it?" Emma said bitterly. "I wasn't meant to have a lovely childhood, I was meant to have a sucky one and fate will be damned if I get to cheat it and have a proper one." Snow and Charming's heart broke for Emma. She'd been holding all this in. "But it's alright, August can have his lovely childhood instead. I mean it's not like he was the only person who could have told me where I was really from or anything. It's not like he abandoned me. Well, lesson learnt. He's living proof that karma doesn't exist." The words tumbled out of Emma's mouth before she could stop them. She suddenly felt so angry. It was like there was a fire inside her stomach. She just wanted to pick up the closest object and hurl it at the wall. She wanted to scream, to kick to bang her fists against anything solid. Emma wanted to hurt on the outside to take her mind off the hurting on the inside. But she couldn't. She had to keep her temper in line. "I'd better go pick up Henry, he'll be getting cold in the park. I don't even know if he brought his jacket." Emma said getting up suddenly. She moved past her parents without listening to their pleas for her to come back. She couldn't face them just now. The truth was Henry was safely at Regina's house, but her mom and dad didn't need to know that. Emma needed some time to clear her brain. It wasn't fair that August or Pinocchio or whatever he wanted to call himself now got to be a kid again. Where was her second chance? She would never get one. She kept thinking of Henry, reminding herself that if she hadn't had this life she wouldn't have had him either. But that didn't take away all the pain, just eased it a little. She still got a life she didn't deserve. Choices were made before she was even thought of- her path was always set for her, written in stone. Fate must have had a good laugh at Emma for having the nerve to hope for happily ever after.