Repeat (A Once Upon A Time Fanfiction / Captain Swan's Daughter)

11

Despite how hungry I was, I stepped outside of the diner where it was quieter and dialled Emma's number into my phone.

"Hello?" I heard a farmiliar voice.

"Hey, Ruby said I needed to contact you urgently, but didn't say why." I told Emma.

"I need to ask you something, but I feel like I'd be able to get a more truthful answer out of you face to face." Emma told me. She didn't sound angry, just concerned. "I'll come and meet you outside of Granny's. Don't move."

"Don't I have time to quickly get some food? I'm starving." I asked.

"No, stay where you are, kid." Emma put the phone down before I could argue with her. If it was anyone else, I would have been annoyed with them for telling me what to do. Having grown up without parents, I had ended up being very indipendant.

I was only sat on an outdoor chair for a few minutes before the yellow car parked outside the diner. I got up and walked towards the car window to see Emma. She beckoned me over to sit in the passenger seat.

"Think fast." Emma said, chucking a cereal bar at me. She was playing around, but her facial expressions said something a lot different.

I thanked her and began to eat the snack.

"So, what did you need to talk about?" I asked. I hoped it wasn't anything too serious, but feared it would be.

"You know the note you left in my kitchen this morning before you left?" Emma asked.

"Yes." I replied nervously. I didn't remember anything distinctive about the short letter.

"You signed it Phoebe." Emma told me. Her face was blank and gave me no clues to how she wanted me to react. I hoped my eyes and body language didn't give away how much I was internally panicking.

How could I have been so careless? The plan was not to let people find out my real name, especially after finding out my name was identical to Emma's second born child's. Being treated like I was actually appreciated and not just a way to get money from the state somehow made me less careful. I did want to tell Emma the truth about me, but I didn't want it to be like this.

I opened my mouth to speak after a few long seconds, but my throat was dry. It was like Ursula the sea witch had stolen my voice like she did to Ariel in the little mermaid. Right now, I would love to grow a huge mermaid tail to distract Emma from this note dilemma.

"I lied about my name in case somebody reported me." I finally managed to say in a quiet voice. I was looking down at my feet on the floor of the car. My converse had never looked so clean, so I was partly admiring them, partly not wanting to look directly at Emma.

"My job used to be tracking people, so if I really cared that much I could have found out everything about you anyway." Emma told me. She sounded so relaxed, which was the total opposite of me right now. It was quite chilly outside, but I was boiling hot from overreacting.

"So you're not mad?" I asked, my voice still quieter and less bouncy than usual.

"Of course I'm not. I can't even remember how many times I've faked my name." Emma reassured me. "I just hope you'll be able to trust me in the future."

I smiled at the last word she said. Future meant that she wanted to see me again, and it could possibly mean I could use her home as a personal homeless shelter again.