Chapter 38

Merry Christmas Eve, everyone! Okay, so this chapter is totally random and is mostly just a dream Hanna is having after her little blow to the head. I've wanted to write about Hanna and Emma being the same age for awhile now, and this is the only way I could think of to do it. I wanted to do something Christmasy too…tis the season! I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas! Enjoy :)

Snow and David tried to wake their little girl. They needed to keep her alert until they assessed the damage to her head. She had gotten hit pretty hard.

"Hanna, please wake up," Snow said as she gently rubbed her arm.

"Come on princess, open your eyes," David pleaded.

Their pleas were futile. She wouldn't open her eyes. She was mumbling something though. They couldn't quite make out what she was saying. They looked up at each other, worry filling their eyes. They looked back down to Hanna, who looked like she was having some sort of dream…

"Emma, Emma…" Hanna moaned as she tossed around in her bed. Then, she quickly sat up. "Emma!"

Hanna looked around and remembered Emma wasn't there. When she and Emma had turned six a few months ago, they told their Mommy and Daddy that they were big girls and wanted their own rooms. It was very dark in her room though, and Hanna didn't like the dark. Usually, the moon was very bright and gave her a little bit of light, but it must be cloudy tonight. Hanna jumped down from her bed and ran over to her window to see. Not only was it cloudy, but it was snowing! There was a beautiful white blanket covering the castle grounds, which was perfect, since it was Christmas Eve.

Hanna decided that she was going to sneak over into Emma's room. She really wanted to go see if Santa came yet, but didn't want to go by herself.

At least that was Hanna's excuse for not staying in her room all by herself. Despite saying they were big enough for their own rooms, one sister usually snuck into the other's room during the night seeking the comfort they were so use to.

"Emmy, Emmy," Hanna whispered as she gave her sister a gentle nudge…that didn't work. Emma didn't move, so Hanna said Emma's name a little louder and gave her a harder nudge.

"Go away, Hanna," Emma said as she reached out for her sister to give her a push.

"Oh, Emma just wake up. We gotta go see if Santa came yet," Hanna said in frustration.

"Santa?" Emma said as her eyes shot open. That caught her attention.

"Come on, let's just go peek," Hanna said as she pulled on Emma's arm.

"Okay, okay, let's go," Emma said as she got out of bed and followed her sister to the door.

Hanna slowly peeked her head out to make sure the coast was clear.

"Okay, you go first," Hanna said as she stepped back, leaving a path for Emma.

"No Han, you go," Emma told her.

"You're the oldest," Hanna said. She liked to use that excuse when she wanted Emma to try something before she did.

"Only by two minutes," Emma said with a roll of her eyes. "We're the same age, and this was your idea."

"So…" Hanna said standing her ground.

"Let's just go together, then," Emma said as she held out her hand.

Hanna took her sister's hand, and they quietly made their way down the long hallway towards the staircase. They carefully walked down and went to where the Christmas tree was.

"There's no presents, he didn't come yet," Hanna said.

"But look, the cookies and milk are all gone," Emma said as she pointed to where they had left Santa's treats before they went to bed.

"Somebody ate Santa's cookies," Hanna said as she crossed her arms. There wasn't coal in their stockings either, so they definitely knew Santa hadn't come.

"Let's go make him some more," Emma suggested.

"All by ourselves?" Hanna asked.

"Sure, come on. We can do it," Emma said as she pulled her sister along towards the kitchen.

"Let's make chocolate chip ones," Hanna said excitedly.

"Okay! Uh…do you know how to make cookies?" Emma asked her, once they had gotten into the kitchen and realized she didn't actually know how to make them.

"Sure," Hanna said with a shrug of her shoulders. How hard could it be? "We use lots of flour and sugar and chocolate! You go get the flour and I'll find the chocolate."

"Okay," Emma said as she walked over to where she thought they kept the bag of flour.

"I found the chocolate! Did you find the…." Hanna started to say as she turned around, but when she saw Emma she started to laugh. Her sister had found the flour, but dropped it causing a big cloud of flour to come up out of the bag and land all over her.

"It's not funny!" Emma yelled at her sister as she tried to wipe the flour off of herself.

"Yes, it is," Hanna said as she continued to giggle.

Emma just glared at her sister. She didn't like being laughed at. Then she got an idea. "You think it's so funny? Well here," Emma said as she picked up a hand full of flour to throw at Hanna.

"What is going on in here?" said a voice from behind, causing Emma to drop the flour she had in her hands.

The girls turned to see their mommy and daddy standing in the doorway of the kitchen. Uh oh…they were totally busted. They weren't suppose to be out of bed, and they especially weren't suppose to be in the kitchen making cookies.

"Girls, your father asked you a question," Snow said as she walked further into the kitchen, trying to avoid the flour that was all over the floor.

"We were just making Santa some more cookies Daddy," Emma said.

"Yeah, somebody ate the cookies we put out for him," Hanna added.

Snow gave Charming a look. He had been the one who ate the cookies. He figured the girls were in bed already, and they wouldn't know that he had eaten them. He would have eaten them later in the night anyway when he and Snow put the presents under the tree. She told him that he should have waited.

"Uh oh, I guess we'll have to make him some more cookies then," Charming said as he avoided his wife's gaze.

"Daddy, help me find the sugar!" Hanna said as she ran up to him.

"Of course," Charming said as he scooped Hanna up into his arms and went to find the rest of the ingredients they would need.

"What happened over here?" Snow asked as she knelt down beside Emma, who was looking a little embarrassed.

"I spilled it on accident Mommy," Emma said as she peeked up at her mommy. She didn't mean to make such a mess.

"It's okay baby. We'll clean it up. Let's get you cleaned up first though," Snow said as she picked Emma up and took her to get all the flour off of her.

"Daddy, are you sure this is everything we need?" Hanna asked very seriously as she looked up at him.

"Yes, Hanna. I'm very sure," Charming told her with a wink.

Snow and Emma returned, and they all finished baking the cookies. They set a few on the plate and refilled Santa's milk glass. Snow and Charming put the girl's back to bed. They decided they were both going to sleep in Emma's bed for the rest of the night. Snow and Charming told the girls they were not allowed to get out of bed until they could see the sun outside and that they weren't allowed to go downstairs again without them. The girls promised to do what they were told.

Emma opened her eyes and could see the sun peeking through her window. She quickly sat up and turned to Hanna. Now it was her turn to wake her sister.

"Han, wake up," Emma said as she gave her sister a little nudge.

"Stop it," Hanna moaned as she rolled over.

"Hanna come on it's morning," Emma said louder as she shook her sister harder.

"It is?" Hanna asked as her eyes shot open. She looked at the window and could see the sun. They could get up now!

"Let's go get mommy and daddy," Emma said as she hopped down from the bed and ran to the door.

"Wait, Emmy," Hanna said as she crawled off the bed and ran after her sister.

"Come on," Emma said, stopping at the door and holding out her hand.

The girls ran as fast as they could down the hallway to their parent's bedroom. Hanna put her finger to her lips, telling Emma to be quiet, and opened the door very slowly. They made their way over to the bed and stood up on their tiptoes to see if they were awake. They were still sleeping…or at least it looked like they were. They both very carefully climbed onto the bed and scooted themselves in between their mommy and daddy. Emma held up her fingers at Hanna…1, 2, 3…

"Merry Christmas!" they both yelled at the same time.

"Oh my!" Snow said as she opened her eyes, pretending to be startled.

"It's morning already?" Charming asked as he sat up and leaned back against the headboard.

"Yeah Daddy. Get up!" Emma said as she pulled her daddy's arms so he would get out of bed.

"Come on Momma!" Hanna said excitedly.

"Aww don't we get any Christmas morning snuggles?" Snow asked as she stuck out her lip.

"Please?" Charming asked sticking out his lip just like his wife.

Hanna and Emma looked at each other and rolled their eyes, but they also couldn't help the little grins they had on their faces.

"Okay," they both said as they launched themselves into their parents outstretched arms.

Emma gave her daddy a big hug and snuggled into him as he wrapped his strong arms around her. Hanna went over to her mommy and gave her some snuggles too. Snow gave Hanna a kiss on the top of her head as she enveloped her in a hug.

"Okay switch," Emma said after awhile.

Hanna and Emma giggled as they crawled to the other parent to give them equal snuggles. After a few minutes, they were finally ready to go downstairs.

"I really hope Santa came," Emma said barely able to hold in her excitement.

"I tried really hard to be a good girl Mommy," Hanna said as she held onto Snow's hand while they walked down the stairs.

"You were a very good girl," Snow told Hanna with a wink.

"Well, there was that one time you spilled ink all over Mommy's favorite blanket," Emma said with a grin.

"I said I was sorry Momma," Hanna said as she looked up at her mommy, worry filling her eyes.

"I know you did baby. Santa isn't going to put you on the naughty list for that," Snow assured her.

"Okay," Hanna said with a nod of her head.

"I don't know he might…" Emma started to say.

"Hey, no teasing your sister," Charming said as he scooped Emma up in his arms and gave her a look.

"Okay," Emma said as she slumped her shoulders. Sometimes she couldn't help herself, it was too easy, plus she had to get her back for laughing at her about the flour last night. "Sorry Han. I was just kidding."

"It's okay," Hanna told her.

"Wow!" Emma said, eyes bright with excitement, once they had gotten downstairs and she saw all of the presents underneath the Christmas tree.

"We must have been very good!" Hanna said with just as much excitement as her sister.

"Come on Han!" Emma said as she tried to wiggle down from her dad's arms and run over to the presents.

"Hold on just a second," Charming said as he kept a firm grasp on a squirming Emma.

"Slow down," Snow said as she scooped a running Hanna up in her arms.

"Mommy, Daddy," Emma and Hanna complained at the same time.

"We're going to take our time opening the presents this year remember?" Snow reminded them.

"Oh yeah," the girls said. Last year, they both just tore into their presents and were done within five minutes.

"We'll all take turns Daddy," Emma told him.

"Emmy you can go first," Hanna told her sister.

"No, Han you go" Emma said.

"How about Mommy goes first!" Hanna said as she looked up at her mommy.

"Me?" Snow said, surprised that her girls weren't fighting over who got to open the first present.

"Yeah!" Emma and Hanna said at the same time.

"Here Mommy, I have one for you," Charming told her with a smile.

The girls were so excited to watch their mommy open her first present. They were even more excited to open their own. They couldn't believe all of the wonderful presents they received. Santa brought them everything they had asked for and their Mommy and Daddy got them some beautiful things too. Hanna and Emma were also happy to see the smiles on their Mommy and Daddy's faces when they opened they presents they had made for them.

"Daddy! Can we go play outside?" Hanna asked once they finished opening their presents and ate their breakfast.

"Yeah, Daddy. Can we? Please?" Emma asked, practically jumping up and down with excitement.

Charming glanced up at Snow to see what she thought of the idea. They decided that it would be okay to go outside for a little while. They knew how much their girls loved the snow.

"Okay, Mommy. We have to make lots of snowballs," Emma said as she and Snow hid behind the snow fort they had made.

"Alright, Em. We've got this," Snow told her with wink. They were having a snowball fight with Hanna and Charming, who were hiding behind their fort making snowballs of their own. Each team had two minutes to make as many snowballs as they could before the war began.

"Daddy, wow, you are really good at making snowballs. "I'm not very good at it," Hanna said as she tried to make one, but it kept falling apart in her hands.

"Here, like this," Charming said as he took Hanna's hands in his and showed her the proper way to make a snowball.

"Thanks Daddy," Hanna said with a smile.

"Are you two ready over there?" they heard Snow call from her fort.

Charming looked down at Hanna, who nodded her head. She was ready. "We're ready!" Charming called out to his wife.

"Let's go Daddy!" Hanna said as she picked up a few snowballs and ran out from behind their fort. She saw her mommy and Emma running towards them. She let out a giggle as she sent a snowball flying towards them. It just barely missed Emma's arm.

"Mommy, mommy. Get Daddy!" Emma said with a laugh as she threw one at her daddy.

"I'm trying Em," Snow said as she threw one after another at her husband, but he was too quick.

"I got Mommy!" Hanna yelled with excitement when her snowball hit her mommy on the foot.

"I'm gonna get you," Snow said with a grin as she chased after Hanna, lightly throwing a snowball in her direction.

"You can't get me Mommy," Hanna giggled as she turned and ran, hiding behind the snow fort again to collect more snowballs.

"Daddy, I got you!" Emma said excitedly as she threw a snowball that landed square on his back.

"Hey!" Charming said as he turned to see Emma giggling. He had his back turned for a second to check on his partner. He quickly picked up a snowball and chased after his other daughter.

"Ahh! Mommy, help me!" Emma screamed as she ran towards her mommy, hiding behind her legs.

"Don't even think about it Charming," Snow said with a grin as she threw up the snowball in her hand.

Charming eyed up his wife, trying to decide if he could throw his snowball and duck before he got hit himself. He knew Snow's reflexes were fast and it probably wouldn't work, but he took his chances and sent the snowball flying.

They both hit each other square in the chest and went to grab another snowball, but they were both out. They ran back to their forts to reload.

"Daddy, I made some more," Hanna said.

"Good job, Hanna," Charming told her with a wink as he made a few more. "Ready?"

"Wait. Daddy…" Hanna said as she held up her arms to him, wanting him to pick her up.

"How about you climb on my back and hold the snowballs?" Charming suggested.

"Okay," Hanna said as she climbed onto his back. They ran over to her Mommy and Emma's fort. "Let's get them Daddy."

Emma held some snowballs in her hands as she ran out from behind her fort, ready to get her Daddy and sister. She didn't noticed they were so close though. "Hey, no fair," she said when she saw Hanna on her daddy's back. "Mommy!"

Hanna picked up one of her snowballs and aimed it right at her sister. "Uh oh," Hanna said when her snowball hit Emma directly in the face.

A few seconds after the cold snow had hit her face, just enough time for her to realize what had happened, Emma burst into tears. "Momma!"

"What happened, baby?" Snow asked as she came running out from behind the fort.

"Han…Hanna h-hit me in the….face," Emma said in between her cries.

"I've got you baby, it's okay," Snow said as she picked Emma up in her arms. She went to wipe the snow off of Emma's face, but her glove was covered in snow. She pulled it off with her mouth and wiped the snow off of Emma's face with her hand. "Okay, okay. It's all better now."

"No, Momma. It's still cold," Emma said as she shook her head.

"Here you go Em," Charming said as he took off his scarf and wrapped it around her face. He had kept it under his coat, so it wasn't covered in snow. "Better?"

"No, I wanna go inside," Emma cried.

"Alright sweetie. Let's go," Snow said as she carried her towards the castle.

"Hanna let's…" Charming started to say as he turned around as saw the tears streaming down his other little girl's face. "What's the matter princess?"

"I'm sorry, Daddy. I…I didn't mean to hurt Emma," Hanna said with a sniffle.

"I know you didn't. It's okay," Charming said as he picked her up.

"No, Emma is hurt," Hanna said as she shook her head.

"Mommy is getting her warmed up. She'll be just fine," Charming assured her.

"Okay, Daddy," Hanna said as she laid her head down on his shoulder. "Can we go inside now?"

"Yeah baby, let's go," Charming said as he held her tight and carried her into the castle.

"All better now?" Snow asked Emma once she had her in some warm clothes and wrapped in a blanket.

"Yeah, Mommy. My face isn't cold anymore," Emma said as she snuggled into her her. "I don't like snowball fights anymore."

"Okay, baby," Snow said with a laugh.

"I'm serious Mommy," Emma said as she looked up at her. "I don't want to play that game ever again."

"Okay, how about we go find your daddy and sister?" Snow suggested.

"Okay," Emma said with a nod of her head.

They made their way downstairs to find Hanna and Charming snuggled up on the couch with a tray of hot chocolate sitting on the table in front of them. Snow sat on the couch, with Emma on her lap, next to her husband who was holding a guilty looking Hanna.

"Emmy…" Hanna said quietly as she nervously looked up at her sister. She hoped Emma wouldn't be mad at her. "I'm sorry I hit your face with the snowball. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"It's okay," Emma said with a shrug of her shoulders. "I know you didn't mean it."

"I didn't. I promise," Hanna said as she shook her head. "You're not mad at me?"

"No, I'm not mad," Emma told her. "It was just an accident."

Hanna got a big smile on her face and crawled along the couch towards her sister and gave her a hug. "I love you Emma."

"I love you Hanna," Emma said as she wrapped her arms around her sister.

"I made you some hot chocolate! Daddy helped," she said as she pointed to the tray in front of her.

"Thanks!" Emma said with a smile as she jumped down to grab a cup.

"Momma, we made you some too," Hanna said as she climbed onto her mommy's lap.

"Thank you, sweetie," Snow said as she wrapped her arms around her little girl and kissed her on the top of the head.

"It smells so good, Daddy," Emma said as she carefully climbed onto his lap to drink her chocolate treat.

"It's special Christmas hot chocolate," he told her with a wink, causing Emma to giggle.

Snow and Hanna helped themselves to some and the family just enjoyed the rest of their Christmas day together. They took a little nap by the fireplace before getting ready for their big Christmas dinner. After dinner, the girls played with their new toys some more. Snow and Charming soaked in all these precious moments with their girls. They knew these moments were so special. They may have gone a tad overboard with the presents, but they didn't care. They wanted their girls to have everything. They loved them so much.

By the time evening came upon them, the girls could no longer keep their eyes open. Snow and Charming carried them upstairs. The insisted on sleeping in Hanna's room for the night. Snow and Charming didn't mind that they didn't sleep in their own rooms. They thought it was adorable and loved that their girls were so close. They gave them each a kiss goodnight, wishing them a Merry Christmas one last time.

"Hanna?" Emma whispered, hoping her little sister was still awake.

"What Emmy?" Hanna asked.

"This was a really fun Christmas."

"It was the best," Hanna said with a yawn.

I love you," Emma told her.

Hanna smiled. "I love you too, Emma," Hanna said as her eyes slowly closed…

"Emma!" Hanna shouted as she sat straight up…well tried to. Her head was pounding. "We need to find her!"

"Charming, I think we need to take her to the hospital," Snow said. Hanna had been passed out for only a few seconds, but was mumbling something about Christmas and snowballs.

"No, Momma!" Hanna said, eyes wide with panic. She didn't want to go there.

"Sweetie, your head is bleeding and you've been talking nonsense," Snow said as she gently brushed the hair from her face.

"No, no," Hanna said as she shook her head. She had a pretty strange dream, but she couldn't really remember it now. She must have been talking about it. She was fine now though. She didn't need to go to the hospital.

"Hanna…" Snow said with a sigh. She didn't want to upset her even more, but something needed to be done.

"Snow, I can handle this," Regina said as she came up beside her.

"Okay," Snow said with a nod of her head, knowing what Regina was going to do.

"Hanna, I'm going to help you, but you have to lay really still for me alright?" Regina told her.

"Okay," Hanna said, keeping still just like she was told.

Hanna watched as Regina ran her hands along her head. Hanna could feel some of the pain go away. She felt a lot better and wasn't dizzy anymore.

"There. She should be fine now, as long as she gets some rest," Regina said. "The inside will take longer to heal."

"No hospital?" Hanna asked.

"No..as long as you go home and rest," Regina told her with a raise of her eyebrows.

"Okay," Hanna said with a nod of her head.

"Let's get you home, princess," Charming said as he picked her up into his strong arms.

"Okay, Daddy," Emma said, looking around as her dad carried her away. She wondered which direction Emma had gone. She really hoped they would find her soon. She couldn't stand the thought of Emma feeling guilty for what happened. It wasn't her fault and Hanna had to tell her that.