To Escape The Curse Is To Be Cursed

Summary: When the curse breaks, things didn't turn out as planned…

Angst/Family , AU

"I love you, Henry" Emma whispered shakily, desperately trying to hold back her sobs as she leans down to give her first, and last, kiss to her dying son.

Immediately after, a bright flash so pure radiates throughout the small town of Storybrooke. Not long after comes an earthshattering screech as the world around them quakes.

"What the –" Emma begins to cry out before she just stands there silently, shocked, watching as everyone pops out of existence. Dr. Whale, the nurses, that nun that she could never remember the name of…all just vanished out of thin air. She never had the time to question the fact that a pure white flash had come out of that kiss to her son, or register that her said son was now wide awake and very much alive.

"Emma?! What's happening?" Henry shouts over the screeching, grabbing for her hand as he looks around wildly. What appears to be vines, moss and other various green things you would find in the forest are quickly breaking through the windows and cracks in the walls around them.

Emma blinks as she looks back to her son, and despite everything going on around them, she takes a moment to take in her son and the relief that his eyes are open and the color is slowly returning to his cheeks. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought that Henry was never under any sleeping curse and died before she could find a way to steal the potion back from Gold.

"She took my happy ending away from me, that's what happened! The curse is broken, Storybrooke is turning back to what it once was, and everyone is back to the Enchanted Forest! Everything is ruined and we're stuck here, left to die if we don't get moving now!" a new voice yells out, quickly showing to be Regina as she rushes forward and reaches towards Henry. "C'mon Henry, we have to go. As quick as you can, you can rest when we reach safety".

Parts of the building start to break, only to fade away once broken away. In the missing spots, branches full of leaves were quick to replace. If it wasn't for this fact, Emma would have argued with Regina and demand that she leave Henry and her alone, that she could stay and rot for her crimes. But as it was, she had no choice but to agree that getting out of there now was the best decision and to let bygones be bygones…for now, at least. She'll argue later, when her and Henry's lives aren't at stake.

Emma helped Henry to stand, but kept a firm hold on his hand. While she may believe that fighting now could very well be suicidal, that didn't mean that she was going to relinquish Henry completely to Regina.

"Alright, time to go".

Snow White blinks slowly, trying to make sense of her thoughts. For a moment, everything appears to be spinning, images and sounds of her life and the life of the woman Mary Margaret rushing through her head. She blinks again, and she starts to take in her surroundings as she feels herself awaken more and more. She can still feel the other woman, her other self, but it's becoming more subtle now. She may be Snow White now, but it feels like that this Mary person isn't completely gone either. How peculiar.

Focusing on her surroundings now, she realizes she's in Emma's nursery, or what was once her nursery. The room has definitely seen better days, as it now lays in nothing but waste. It's like coming from a world full of color to one of black and white. Such a huge contrast to what she once remembered of this room.

"Snow!" a voice nearby calls out, quickly catching her attention at the familiarity of it. She would know that voice anywhere.

"Charming!" she cries as she turns around, in search of her husband. Her eyes catch a hold of him in no time at all, and she is quick to dash to her husband's side. Before she even registers it, she's in his arms and they are sharing a kiss that almost makes up the twenty-eight years of absence.

Breaking apart, they stare at each other before looking around them. If the evidence of the curse wasn't surrounding them, they would almost believe it was all a dream. That they never went to this land of no magic called Storybrooke, living a lie for twenty-eight years as they unknowingly wait for their daughter to come break-…daughter. Wait a moment…Snow's eyes widen.

"Emma!" Snow calls out, leaving Charming's arms as she desperately searches for her child. Emma, she knows now, was there with them in Storybrooke; so where was she now? Snow sees the wardrobe and runs to it, quickly opening the hatch and looking inside. If she and Charming returned to the room they left in, surely Emma would be where she was last seen as well. "Emma!"

Snow's heart clenches painfully as she sees the wardrobe empty.

"She's not here, dearie" someone growled lowly. Rumpelstiltskin appeared at the window, glaring daggers at the wardrobe. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. All the work he had to do, for naught. "No, no…she's still in Storybrooke. If there is still such a place, that is."

"No…" Snow whispered tearfully, slowly inching her way towards the imp. "No! That can't be! The curse is broken; we were supposed to be together now! This isn't how it's supposed to be!" She grabs Rumpelstiltskin by the shoulders and forcefully shakes him. "Bring me my daughter!"

Charming comes up and gently wraps his arms around his hysteric wife, pulling her away from the imp. "Why did this happen?" he questioned sternly.

"Everyone that was cursed was brought to Storybrooke. When the curse broke, everyone came back. Your precious daughter was never cursed, and therefore wouldn't have been brought back here the same way as those that were. And unfortunately for her, that wardrobe had only a one way ticket."

The newfound parents' eyes widen before a shrill cry could be heard coming from Snow's lips, as she slowly slumps to the ground in despair.

A/N: First chapter author's note, yay! So yeah…it's been quite some time since I've last written anything. But even so, I'm quite proud of this little piece. Granted, I'm sure there are mistakes and clichés everywhere but hey, give me a break? I have to get used to writing again and try to remember how to do so correctly. :P

Little info: this is where I shall be putting random little one-shots, or snippets if you will, that go through my silly head. Some stories will probably be my take on some things, so expect to see some things you may have felt like you've read before (though I do not wish to copy – if you see something that is too close to another's, please say so and I'll either revise to make it more original or just take it down completely. I would never purposely copy anyone, I may be inspired but I wouldn't go out and take their story and just edit it a bit and call it my own). Also, the title is subject to change, but for now, it shall do. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy what's to come!

Anyways, here's the first little snippet that I would like to present. Some things may be incorrect, like characters and details, and you're welcome to point them out to me so I can fix those little facts (if it doesn't ruin the whole story, that is). But most of all, remember that this is an alternative universe and therefore things are different.

…I feel like this is incomplete. There may be a part two sometime in the future. Or someone could make a full story out of it? Or I could, possibly (though with just getting back into writing again, I kind of want to take it slow, hence the snippets. I'm training, I suppose you could say). We'll see. Is there already a story like this out there?

(and don't worry, you won't be seeing this long of an author's note again. Not unless something comes up that I absolutely feel the need to share, but otherwise, long author notes will be left to first chapter introductions)

So I hope you enjoyed this little story and will come back for the next one! Thanks for reading!