Emma screwed up her face in frustration and exhaustion.

The crying had started up again. She lifted her head, trying to determine from which direction it was coming. She looked around her. Everyone else was sleeping.

And in that moment she hated all of them.

How dare they all sleep peacefully (well, relatively peacefully anyways… definitely more peacefully than Emma) while she was wide-eyed and most definitely awake.

She decided her best bet was anger and so she punched at her pillow of leaves. As it all fluttered out from the seams of the larger leaves that had been somehow sewn together she felt extremely regretful. Mary Margaret, Snow White, her Mom had worked hard on that for her. (How the fuck does she have a Mom who knows how to make pillows out of leaves, thorns and spider threads?)

And she had ruined it.

Just like she's been ruining everything in her life.

And that's when she felt it. That horrid feeling welling up from deep within, gurgling up her throat and spilling out of her mouth. God, she hadn't cried since she had decided to leave her last foster home.

With her head laid back down on the hard packed dirt, she let the hot tears stream down from one cheek to the other.

Would that kid just stop crying already?!

In another part of the camp, only a few body lengths away, Snow White had been snuggled up against the firm torso of her one and only Prince Charming. However, she had woken up. Why exactly escaped her for the present moment as she deduced her current location. Toasty on one side and rather cold on the other. Sleeping outside. She hadn't needed to do that it so many years; her body could concur with that realization.

Well, she was pretty sure she did not awaken from her left nipple feeling chilly. She blinked a couple of times before she registered the sniffling and muffled sobbing coming from Emma's direction. Emma!

Snow White extricated herself from Charming as gently as she could, although he did not even snort in recognition of losing her from his side. Snow looked over to her daughter and discovered a shaking form. She leapt over Regina and dropped to her knees next to Emma. She cautiously reached out a hand, and then cursed herself for the hesitation.

She wrapped her hands around Emma's shoulders and hefted her up and into her torso. She felt Emma tense up.

'It's okay, Emma. You don't need to say anything. I'm here.'

For the longest moment in Snow's life she held her breath until Emma responded in any manner. The joy she felt when she received a verbal response was only matched for that split second when Emma had been born and it had been only been mother and daughter staring into each other's eyes.

'…Mommy?'

'Yes, Mommy's here.'

Emma twisted her embrace and returned the hug, squeezing Snow so much that it almost hurt. Her crying also got louder, but she tried to muffle it by shoving her face into Snow's shoulder. Snow tightened her hug and kissed Emma on the top of her head.

'Mommy's here for you baby. You're not alone anymore.'

THE END