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

17

It was 4pm and Henry and I had been home for about an hour. It wasn't really my home, but it was the most secure place I had lived in. The two of us were sat in the living room. Henry was laying across the sofa and I had sunk into a comfy chair. We weren't really talking, as we were both focused on our phone screens. We were the sort of scene judgemental adults would say all teenagers were like.

"Phoebe, we need to talk." I heard Emma's voice before I heard the door slam. Emma power walked into the living room and pushed abruptly pushed Henry's feet off the sofa to make room for her.

"I don't know where to start..." Emma began.

"Mom, I kept this a secret from you, but I may have told Phoebe a few things already." Henry interrupted. He was vague, but Emma immediately knew what he meant.

"So, how much do you know?" Emma asked slowly.

I paused before answering.

"Wait, that speech on magic and fairytales wasn't just a trick to see how gullible I was?" I knew that part of me has believed Henry's theories, but I couldn't admit it to myself out loud. I couldn't hear my voice admitting that I believed in the unbelievebly.

"I want to tell you everything, Phoebe, I promise." Emma admitted. "I just don't want to over face you with crazy information, which would make you think we're a town of inbred lunatics and then you'd probably run for the hills. Not that we are inbred. We're not inbred."

I knew Emma was nervous. She wasn't the only one who starting rambling when she was nervous.

"I'm ready to listen to whatever you have to tell me." I said.

"There is magic magic in Storybrooke. It's not a joke, it's real. And Mary Margaret? She's not my sister, she's my mom." Emma looked very worried. I didn't think she was crazy, though. "I didn't believe Henry when he first started trying to convince me about magic and stories, but it's different now."

"I feel like the family tree might be a good place to start." Henry butted in. I nodded in agreement.

"Basically, my mom and dad, Mary Margaret and David, are Snow White and Prince Charming. Their baby, Neal, is my brother and he's named after Henry's dad. My mom's step-mom, so my step-grandma, is Regina. Regina is also Henry's adoptive mother. Henry's other grandparents are Mr Golf and Mila. Mila left him for Killian a very, very long time ago, and he remarried to Belle." Emma attempted to explain.

"It seems logical." I nodded, my voice laced with sarcasm.

"I'm being serious." Emma insisted.

"I think I believe you." I said after a considerably long pause. It sounded insane hearing my voice admit to believing. Emma smiled and looked a lot less worried than she had done moments before.

"Talk about magic, next." Henry assisted Emma, who has clearly been too worried to prepare what she was going to say.

"okay, so there's mainly dark and light magic. Regina, for example, had dark magic. I have light magic, because I was the 'product of true love' or something." Emma used her fingers as air quotations.

"So you have magical powers?" I asked.

"I'm a little rusty, but I could do something." Emma flicked her wrist and a bright, shiny white light appeared. It shot across the room, but disappeared before it could cause any damage. It reminded me of a shooting star.

"Wow." I said. "I have to believe you now, don't I?"

"You don't have to do anything, Phoebe." Emma smiled, not wanting to scare me away.

I didn't know what to say. How would you react if somebody told you magic existed, and was able to prove it? I knew before Emma demonstrated that they weren't lying. There's a difference between telling a lie and telling what you believe is the truth. I still didn't feel like I was really here. How did I manage to find myself is Storybrooke, in Emma's house learning about a whole new world. I should have had a million questions to ask Emma and Henry, but I didn't really have anything.

"Earth to Phoebe." Henry waves at me from across the living room. I didn't realise it, but I had started daydreaming.

"So does everyone know about magic or is it just you?" I asked.

"The whole town knows. Most of the people here are from different realms." Henry replied.

"Realms? You've lost me. But back to everyone else." I was easily confused with basic algebra, so this conversation was blowing my mind into a thousand tiny pieces. "So, the reason I get so many stares and looks is because I don't know about the magic?"

"That and the fact nobody ever visits here." Henry added.

"Why not? It's pretty here."

"It's usually something that beings you here. Kind of like fate, maybe. It sounds ridiculous, I know, but people only come here if they have something important they need to do. I didn't realise at the Tim, but when I first came to Storybrooke it was to help everyone." Emma answered.

"Okay," I nodded. "Just one last question for now. Henry, are you and Violet a 'thing'?"

Henry blushed. "We're not talking about that right now." Henry then got up and began to walk away.

"He's running off to go and kiss his girlfriend." Emma told me, jokingly.

"I heard that." Henry called from the next room.

"Whatever you do, don't get her pregnant. We don't want Mary Margaret and David being great-grandparents before they turn 40." Emma called back to her son.

Emma's comment was ignored by Henry, but made me laugh. At least someone appreciated it.

Less than a minute later, Emma left the room to go and prepare dinner. I was left alone in the living room. Instead of pulling my phone from my pocket and violently playing piano tiles, I sat and thought. I hadn't yet hit me that my life had completely changed. The things I thought were impossible and make believe we're turning into a reality. When this all finally processed, I had no idea how I would react.

I lost track of how long I sat staring into space and daydreaming, but I was suddenly very thirsty. I joined Emma in the kitchen and filled a glass with water from the tap.

"That smells delicious." I said between sips. Emma was cooking noodles with stir fried vegetables in a large wok.

"I hope it tastes as good as it smells." Emma told me as she stirred the ingredients. She then turned the heat down a little before turning around to face me. "Pheobe, if you ever need to talk, I'm here. I know what it's like to grow up without a family, and now that you know about the magic and the fairytales I can be more honest with you. If you have any questions about anything, no matter how personal, you can ask me. You could be my daughter, but I don't know. No matter that happens, though, I'm not going anywhere. Okay?"

"Okay." I smiled. I was beginning to love Emma like someone would love their family.