Hi! This is my first attempt at a OUAT fanfic, so I honestly don't know how it's turned out, but I'd truly be greatful if you gave it a chance. This is set after Broken, so I wouldn't recommend reading if you haven't seen the season premiere yet.

Once Upon A Time

Family

Snow awoke to a throbbing pain at the back of her head. She slowly opened her eyes, trying to discern what strange world the hat had taken her to, but to her great surprise she found herself face-to-face with an armour clad woman; behind her stood another woman wearing a finely tailored purple dress. The warrior was openly glaring at her with a piercing gaze.

It was then that Snow noticed that both her hands and feet had been tightly bound with rope. But where was Emma? She vainly struggled against the restraints and frantically looked for her daughter. As the second woman turned her head in Snow's direction and step away, Snow saw her daughter lying on the ground, seemingly unconscious.

"Who are you? What do you want from us?" she demanded. The warrior continued to glare at her.

"It's your fault he died. It's your fault her prince," she said, indicating the retreating figure of the brunette, "died." Said brunette was hunched over a stone table, cradling a young man's hand.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I don't even know where we are."

"Briar Rose or what's left of it. It was destroyed by a witch."

"Briar Rose? Aurora, is that you? It's me, Snow White. We grew up together." Aurora's gaze finally turned to Snow and recognition dawned. She slowly walked towards the pair, casting a fleeting glance at the still unconscious Emma and indicated to the warrior to cut her bonds. The warrrior sighed, but complied to the other woman's request. As soon as she was free, she smiled gratefully at Aurora before running towards her daughter. She caressed her cheeks, all the while checking her for any substantial injury.

"Emma, wake up. Sweetheart, wake up."

Emma felt like a small child wrapped in her mother's arms. How many nights had she spent dreaming about the day she would finally meet her parents? This dream, however, was different: the voice whispering in her ear was one she knew very well. It belonged to her best friend, roommate and now mother, Mary-Margaret. She basked in her comforting presence, taking advantage of every second, knowing that she could wake up at any moment and realize that it was all a dream. She would wake up in her apartment in Boston all alone.

But the voice was calling to her, like a moth to a flame and unrelenting. She shut her eyes tighter, refusing to face a very unwelcome reality.

"Emma, wake up. Sweetheart, wake up." whispered that sweet, comforting voice that drew her into consciousness. That's when she remembered the events of the last few days: Henry dying, Regina, the fight with the dragon - yes, dragon - and Snow White and Prince Charming looking upon her with the genuine care and love she had searched for her entire life.

She opened her eyes and gazed into the emerald eyes that mirrored her own. The way Mary-Mar-, no Snow looked at forced her to lower her gaze. Too much, too soon.

The woman in front of her refused to relent and lifted her chin. Emma squirmed, now feeling truly uncomfortable.

"I guess you really do have my chin, huh?" she said softly. Knowing that Emma had reached her limit, Snow stood and held out a hand to her daughter, who took it and gave her a small smile.

"Mar- er.. um Snow, where the hell are we?"

"I guess we're in my world, your world." Still feeling rather uneasy, Emma looked around and saw two women eyeing her curiously.

"And why are they staring at me like I suddenly grew two heads?" Snow chuckled.

"I'm princess Aurora and this is Fa Mulan." said the brunette.

Emma was dumbstruck. What was this? A Disney reunion? She very nearly laughed at how utterly ridiculous that sounded, but standing not five feet away from her were Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and Mulan. Her mother was Snow White and her father was Prince Charming. Yeah, I'm definitely going mad.

"Aurora, this is my daugher, Emma." Snow was now positively beaming with pride.

"But-How?"

"It's my step-mother's curse. Regina sent me, Charming and my kingdom to a strange world with no magic, where time stood still for twenty-eight years. James and I managed to save Emma by sending her through an enchanted wardrobe, before the curse reached the castle. She saved us." Emma quite suddenly found the stone floor very entertaining. "What I don't understand," continued Snow, " is how you managed to escape it."

"It was part of Maleficent's curse. Time stood still her as well," explained Mulan, though still not quite trusting the new arrivals to Briar Rose.

"But that doesn't explain why you blamed us for Philip's death."

"It was a wraith. He'd been marked and he sacrificed himself to save us. You brought the wraith here." Emma could tell this wouldn't end well and began reaching for her gun, but a hand stopped her.

"We were told this land no longer existed, that it was destroyed with the curse." Mulan wasn't buying it.

"It was your fault the curse was enacted in the first place! Shang is in that world because of you! Philip is dead because of you! The Queen and Maleficent may have cursed us, but you are equally culpable, Snow White." Surprisingly enought, it was Aurora who place a comforting hand on the young woman's shoulder.

"It's not her fault. She has spent twenty-eight years away from her true love and in the clutches of the Evil Queen. She is not at fault, the witch is." Mulan brushed off her companion's hand and walked away.

"I'm sorry, it's been a difficult few days."

"I can imagine." Apart from the obvious confusion from the previous exchange, Emma began to think she'd better catch up on Henry's book when they got back. If they got back.

"I don't suppose you have a magic hat?"

So, how'd I do? Any review is more than welcome :) I don't plan on this being a particularly long story, 3-4 chapters at most and I plan on trying to finish it before Sunday. On a completely unrelated note, I'm looking for a Beta so if anyone's interested just PM me.

Thanks guys, Laura x