Discover Top Posts Tagged with #frozen warrior

Home is Wherever I’m With You: Chapter 5

Links coming later!

“Ah! There you are, Mulan,” Emperor Chen said, a wide smile on his face.

Mulan bowed, before looking up in confusion. “Your majesty, is everything okay? Chi-Fu sounded urgent when he told me you wanted to see me.”

The Emperor rolled his eyes. “As you can see, I am perfectly fine. I just wished to speak with you about a new task I have for you.”

“Of course, what is it?”

“I have been invited to the wedding of Princess Anna of Arendelle, and I have decided TingTing is now old enough for her first journey outside the empire. I would like you to head our security for this,” he explained. “I trust you will put a fine team together to keep myself and TingTing safe.”

“I will, your majesty. As I always have.”

While Mulan was certain the group she’d gathered would keep the Emperor and his daughters safe, she was still concerned with Chi-Fu, who had offered to stay behind and keep watch over the empire. In agreement, Mulan had offered to let Shang stay behind to guard him. Next to her, Shang was the strongest warrior of the Quian Empire, after all. And would most certainly not be afraid to use force should it come to that.

The journey to Arendelle was long, but after a week of travel they arrived in the northern kingdom, greeted with much joy by the people.

“Emperor Chen, Princess TingTing, welcome to Arendelle,” Queen Elsa said with a polite bow.

“Queen Elsa… I do apologize for missing your coronation. I hear it was quite a show,” Chen replied as he stepped out of the carriage.

“Oh, no, we understand. We heard tell of the war that was going on in your empire around that time,” Elsa explained. “But yes… My coronation was certainly memorable. Come, let’s get you settled in. You must have had a long journey. Your horses will be taken to our stables for food and water.”

Arendelle was… a lot to take in, from the people to the food, Mulan was feeling a bit overwhelmed by it all at the ball following the wedding.

She had never been a fan of formal events, and with all of the royals surrounding her, she felt very constricted, so, after making sure Chin-Po and the others had an eye on the Emperor and the princess, Mulan took a deep breath and stepped out into the cooler air.

“Are you okay?” a voice asked a few moments later.

Mulan jumped, looking over and felt her back straighten when she noticed the Arendelle queen standing behind her.

“Your majesty, yes, I’m fine… I was just getting some air,” Mulan said, bowing deeply in respect.

“It’s a bit warm in there, I don’t blame you,” Elsa replied with a giggle. “You’re Mulan, right? From the Quian Empire?”

“I am, yes. You know my name?”

“Princess TIngTing has been singing your praises since she and her father arrived,” Elsa explained. “She told me you were the one that saved their empire.”

Mulan chuckled modestly. “It wasn’t just me. They just gave me all the glory.”

“Either way,” Elsa said with a smile. “It’s very brave.”

“I just wanted to protect my father from having to go off to war,” Mulan said, rubbing the back of her neck. “It’s luck that it worked out the way it did.”

Elsa’s face suddenly turned wistful as she looked out at her kingdom. “Indeed. Sometimes all we have is luck, isn’t it?”

“Is everything okay, your majesty?”

Elsa blinked, shaking her head quickly before smiling. “Yes, of course. I was just caught in a memory. I think I’m going to head back inside. Would you like to join me, Mulan?”

Mulan nodded. “Yes, I think I will.”

She missed the knowing look on Emperor Chen’s face as she and Elsa returned to the ballroom.

-----------

“Please help! Our daughter’s hurt!” Emma called after a chaotic drive to the hospital.

“Doctor Whale! Doctor Anderson!” a nurse cried, rising from her seat to meet them. “Follow me. This room’s open.”

“Henry, I think we ought to wait outside,” Gold said, and Emma was suddenly grateful for her father-in-law’s presence.

Two doctors rushed into the room.

“What happened? I’m Doctor Anderson, this is Doctor Whale,” the younger of the two said, staring at Audrey.

“I was running in the woods behind Mr. Gold’s shop - I didn’t know there was a cliff there… ” Audrey explained, still shaking as the nurse assisted her. “Something just… freaked me out.”

“Was it those freaky puppets he has in his window? I can’t say I blame you, kid,” Dr. Whale said, with a shake of his head, sliding a pair of gloves on before frowning as he glanced over at Emma and Neal. “You two look like you could get checked out yourselves. Margaret, do you mind?”

“Not at all, doctor,” the nurse said, pulling away from Audrey and gesturing for Emma and Neal to sit on the opposite bed. “You guys aren’t from around here, are you?”

“Boston,” Emma said with a wince. “It was my husband’s idea to come here.”

“I just thought it’d be good to give the kids some fresh air,” Neal added. “This wasn’t exactly what any of us were expecting.”

Margaret smiled, gently dabbing away a streak of blood off Emma’s cheek. “No, I don’t think anyone goes out of town and expects to get into a fight with the woods.”

“On the upside, this isn’t the worst injury I’ve ever had,” Emma said, looking over at Audrey and giving her a weak smile. The last thing Emma wanted was for her to feel like this was her fault.

Margaret gave her a concerned look, but didn’t say anything. “We all do reckless things when we’re young,” she remarked, although Emma wasn’t sure if she was talking to her or to Audrey. “I’m all done with you both. Anything else that needs my attention?”

“I’m good, thanks,” Neal said.

Emma nodded in agreement. “How’s Audrey?”

Whale gave them a small smile. “Given she fell off a small cliff, her injuries aren’t nearly as bad as I thought. But I am going to need to x-ray her ankle, so we’re going to wheel her off and get that taken care of. You’re welcome to wait here or in the lounge, if you’d like.”

Emma sighed in relief, reaching to give Audrey’s hand a squeeze. “Neal and I will be here when you get back.”

Audrey nodded, giving her an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, Emma. I didn’t mean to cause so much trouble.”

“You didn’t, Audrey. We promise.”

When she was wheeled away, Emma leaned into Neal when he pulled her close.

“What the hell caused her to do that?”

“I don’t know. It was that doll my dad gave her, right? Maybe it triggered a memory,” Neal mused with a frown as he led her back into the waiting room. “You said she didn’t have any memories of before she was found at the lobster shack, right?”

“None that Amanda ever mentioned,” Emma confirmed, sitting down in one of the chairs.

“We’ll figure it out, Em. We always do,” Neal said with a small sigh, kissing her temple. “I’m going to go let Papa and Henry know what’s going on.”

Emma nodded. “I’ll be here. I’ll tell Audrey where you went.”

When Neal had disappeared out the doors, Emma heaved out a heavy sigh and put her head in her hands, trying to collect herself. Maybe thinking this town looked like it was something out of a Lifetime movie was a bad idea.

Maybe she’d now suddenly cursed them to act out a Lifetime movie.

Did mythical deities care about Lifetime?

Soon, the scent of hot chocolate caught her attention, and Emma lifted her head to find a woman with short black hair standing in front of a vending machine.

“Is hospital hot chocolate any good?” Emma croaked out.

The other woman looked over in surprise. “Oh - well, it warms me up and gives me a little bit of energy at least, but no, it’s not nearly as good as homemade… or even the pouches you get at the store,” she said with a shrug. “There’s also no cinnamon to put on it, but that’s just a weird little quirk of mine.”

Emma’s eyes widened as she rose to her feet. “I’ve - I’ve never met anyone besides my son who likes hot chocolate with cinnamon on it.”

The stranger smiled. “I’ve never met anyone else who likes it either. Would you like a cup?”

“Oh, uh, yeah, thanks,” Emma said. “Are you sure though? I can pay you back - ”

“I don’t mind at all. You look like you could use a bit of a pick-me-up anyway.”

She gave Mary-Margaret a grateful smile. “So, are you a nurse that just got off work?”

Mary-Margaret shook her head. “I just volunteer here. What brings you here?”

Emma stared down at the cup in her hands. “My daughter had a bit of an… accident, so… I’m waiting for her to get back from getting an x-ray.”

“Oh - my goodness, I’m so sorry,” Mary-Margaret replied, her eyes wide with horror. “Would you like me to sit with you until she gets back?”

Part of Emma wanted to shake her head - that part of her that still felt like she didn’t need anyone, that she was better off alone, but the bigger part of her knew that having someone with her, even if it was a stranger who’d been kind enough to buy her a hot chocolate, would be better than being left alone to her thoughts.

So she nodded in agreement, sitting back down in the chair. “I’m Emma. Emma Cassidy.”

Mary-Margaret’s eyes widened slightly. “Oh! You must be Neal’s wife. I’m Mary-Margaret Blanchard.”

Emma frowned a little. “You know Neal?”

“We met this morning. He said you guys were visiting Storybrooke for the weekend.”

Emma nodded. “That’s right. Can’t say I expected a hospital would be on our list of places to go though,” she said, shaking her head.

“I can’t say I blame you,” Mary-Margaret replied. “Neal said you were from Boston. That must be exciting, huh?”

“It keeps me busy,” Emma said with a small shrug. “I don’t really consider places to be home. Not in the way someone might think.”

“How do you mean?”

Emma sighed, running a hand through her hair. “Growing up, I didn’t have the easiest life. I didn’t really know a lot about stability. Not until Neal. So for me, home is less of a physical place, like Boston or Tallahassee or Storybrooke - it’s more about being with my family.”

“I think that’s sweet,” Mary-Margaret replied with a small smile. “It sounds lovely.”

She couldn’t help but laugh slightly. “Thanks, I think. It works for me, at least. Have you always lived here?”

“I have. I wanted to go to Penn State for college but… my father refused to let me out of the town. Threatened to not pay my tuition. So I ended up going to college here instead. He ended up passing away a year after.”

Emma frowned slightly. “How come you haven’t moved since then?”

“I just… keep getting busy with things. Something always seems to happen whenever I think about leaving. Besides, I don’t know if I’m really made for the big city, come to think of it,” Mary-Margaret explained, wrinkling her nose slightly.

“Mom!”

Henry’s voice cut through the quiet waiting room, the ten-year-old bursting through the door with Neal and Arthur behind him.

“Ah, good, everyone’s here,” Dr. Anderson said, approaching the family as Margaret wheeled Audrey over to an elevator. “Audrey’s scans came back. We didn’t see any serious trauma, but we did notice a concussion and would like to keep her here for a couple of days just to watch her, so Margaret is taking her to a quieter room. She’s also broken her ankle, so we’re going to go ahead and get a cast on her. I… would also like to have her meet with our town’s psychologist, Dr. Hopper.”

Emma frowned. “Psychologist? Why?”

“Audrey still seems a bit shaken. I’m not saying you did anything wrong, but sometimes a neutral ear can help calm someone down,” Dr. Anderson explained with a smile. “It’s just a precaution.”

She couldn’t say she was comfortable with that, but she relented with a nod. It was for Audrey. All Emma wanted was her to be healthy.

Waiting for Audrey to finish speaking to Dr. Hopper was agonizing. Mary-Margaret had gone home, her calming presence gone from the room, which left her with Neal, Henry, and Arthur, the latter of which she still didn’t fully trust, even if Henry was immediately smitten, trying to teach him how to play Mario Kart on his DS.

She couldn’t take her eyes off Audrey, watching every twitch of her hand or flinch as she spoke with the doctor, and she hated that he couldn’t do anything to make her more comfortable. As much as she trusted the doctors, it hurt her to see the teenager looking so frightened.

“She’ll be alright,” Neal murmured, Emma’s hand clutching his and unsure if he’d said that for her or for him.

Finally, Dr. Hopper rose to his feet and approached them, a concerned look on his face.

“Mr. and Mrs. Cassidy… you mentioned that Audrey was homeless when you took her in?” he asked quietly.

“That’s right,” Neal said.

“And that she didn’t have any recollection of her childhood?”

“Right, her caseworker mentioned that,” Emma said with a small frown. “Why?”

“Trauma can do a number on a person’s psyche… oftentimes it will create almost a lock over the traumatic memories, and allow us to forget them until they’re triggered by something that reminds us of that time. Food, music, a certain car… whatever that memory was. Does that make sense?”

“More than you could understand,” Neal muttered as Emma gave a solemn nod.

The therapist seemed a little concerned at the response, but cleared his throat and continued on.

“Right, well… I believe that’s what happened to Audrey. She must have had some traumatic memories of her past, and they were triggered by the doll in Mr. Gold’s shop,” he explained, anxiously adjusting his umbrella. “This is going to be a complicated thing to resolve, Mr. and Mrs. Cassidy.”

“Well, whatever it is, we’re on Audrey’s side. We are her foster parents, after all,” Emma said.

“That’s the thing,” Dr. Hopper said slowly, taking another deep breath. “Audrey… already has parents. She had been missing from Storybrooke for six years now.”

Emma felt her heart stop, color draining from her face.

“Oh my God…” Neal muttered. “So… what do we do now?”

Dr. Hopper fussed with his watch. “I’m afraid that’s above my pay grade… the sheriff will likely get involved, her mothers need to be contacted - ”

“Now hold on. If Audrey ran away from home, how are we supposed to be sure that contacting her mothers is a good idea?” Emma snapped.

“As I said, Mrs. Cassidy, that’s not my job. But everyone will be working for the good of Audrey. I promise.”

Neal ran a hand down his face. “Can we go see her?”

“Of course. If she feels she needs to talk to me again, here’s my card,” Dr. Hopper said, handing it over to Neal. “Or if either of you need to talk.”

“Thank you Dr. Hopper. Henry, can you stay with your grandfather for a bit?” Emma sighed, waiting for the acknowledgement from Henry before entering Audrey’s room.

Audrey was staring down at her hands as they entered the room and took seats next to her bed.

“Are you mad?” she finally mumbled.

“No, of course not… we just want to understand. If you’re comfortable telling us,” Neal replied, brushing her hair away from her face.

Audrey nodded, taking a deep breath. “My name is Audrey Dale… I was adopted when I was a baby, and grew up here until I was 10. I ran away because my moms were always yelling at each other, and I couldn’t take it anymore.”

Emma felt her heart break, and all she wanted to do was bundle Audrey up and get her the hell out of Storybrooke.

“That happened to me too, once,” Emma said quietly. “It was my last foster home. The foster parents never really loved any of us, and it was obvious. They were always yelling about money, about how the state or their jobs weren’t paying enough…”

“My moms loved me. They just didn’t love each other,” Audrey said, biting her lip.

Emma rubbed Audrey’s back gently and gave her a small smile. “I’m glad you knew love.”

“What’s going to happen? I don’t want to leave you guys… I like living with you.”

Emma let out a sigh. “I don’t know. But I promise, Audrey, we are going to fight for your best chance.”

-----

Emma and Neal had gone back to Granny’s to change, leaving Audrey alone for the first time since the incident at the pawn shop. Well, without any human companionship, anyway. Dr. Whale and Dr. Anderson had agreed to allow Snoopy to stay with her, so long as his leash was secured to something so he couldn’t escape further into the hospital. She was used to just having Snoopy for company, and having him curled up against her side was a calming presence she needed.

It was odd, being back in Storybrooke, and while part of her wanted to run back to Boston and never look back, there was a small part of her that was happy to be here, a part of her Audrey hadn’t been sure she’d ever see again.

“I don’t think this is what Neal had in mind when he’d brought us here,” she murmured to Snoopy, who let out a snore and shifted in his sleep.

“AUDREY?!”

She snapped her head toward the door at the shout, absently calming Snoopy as her eyes filled with tears when Li Dale ran into the room.

“Mama…” she choked out.

Li had always been the one there for her school events, despite her busy job at the town’s garage. Every recital, science fair or art show, Audrey could count on Li being in the front row.

“Oh my baby! Look at you… you’re okay! I didn’t want to believe it when Darren called me, but you’re here…” Li gasped out, pulling Audrey into a tight hug, the familiar scent of motor oil and peach blossoms surrounding her. “Where have you been?!”

“Boston, mostly…” Audrey said softly, pulling out of the hug and patting Snoopy on the head. “I’ve been in the foster system since I ran away.”

“The foster - Audrey, didn’t you tell them who you were? Where you lived? You know I would have come to get you.”

Audrey swallowed. “Because I didn’t remember who I was, where Storybrooke was. Dr. Hopper says I had trauma that repressed my memories of this place until my foster parents brought me here.”

Li stared at her, eyes wide with confusion. “Repressed - ”

“You and Mom were always fighting! I couldn’t stand it anymore! That’s why I ran away,” Audrey explained. “But Emma and Neal aren’t like that. They love Henry and I, but they also love each other! I feel happy there!”

Li’s hands came up to her mouth, Audrey could see her palm shaking just slightly. “You don’t have to worry about that anymore, sweetheart.”

“Why not?”

“Because - ”

“Audrey?”

The new voice was more of a frog’s croak rather than a human woman’s.

Renata Dale entered the room, blonde hair loose over one shoulder, and eyes wide, almost dazed as she approached the bed.

“Hi, Mom…” Audrey murmured.

“Renata.”

Renata glanced over at Li, not fully meeting her gaze. “Li. So Darren called you too, huh?”

“Of course he did.”

Audrey felt it all rushing back to her. The tension with the two women, the fear that voices were going to be raised again, the fear that someone was going to physically lash out…

“Mama, what was it you were saying before?” she quickly said, causing both women to stare down at her as if they’d forgotten she was there.

Li blinked several times as she remembered where she’d left off. “Your mother and I got a divorce about a year after you disappeared. There’s no more yelling at home.”

Audrey’s eyes widened, hand frozen against Snoopy’s back. “Oh. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to -”

“Don’t blame yourself,” Renata cut in. “It isn’t because of you we couldn’t keep our heads on straight.”

Li looked like she wanted to say something else, but held back before her attention was caught by the doorway again. “Uh, hi. Can we help you?”

“Henry!”

There was more relief in her voice than she’d meant to use as her brother entered the room with two cups in his hand.

Henry grinned, plopping into the chair near her bed and holding out one of the cups. “Hi Audrey! I brought you a shake from Granny’s. Dad said it might help cheer you up!”

“Um, kid, who the heck are you?” Renata asked.

“Henry. Who are you?”

“I’m her mother.”

“Henry’s my foster brother,” Audrey said, sensing the tension beginning to build again.

“And I’m his mother.”

Emma and Neal entered the room slowly.

“You’re Audrey’s foster mother?” Li asked quietly.

“Hi… I’m Emma Cassidy. This is my husband Neal.”

“Foster - ”

“Let’s discuss this outside… I think it’d be best to not upset Audrey any further,” Neal added. “Buddy, can you keep her company?”

Henry was either oblivious to what was going on, or good at masking his concern, because he nodded quickly and grinned. “Got it, dad!”

Li and Renata seemed reluctant to leave the room, but both followed Emma and Neal, disappearing down the hall.

Audrey hoped whatever was happening wouldn’t cause anymore anger.

------

“You two are planning on adopting Audrey?” Renata asked, her face going white. “But - but Li and I adopted her when she was a baby.”

“That had been our plan until her memories came back, yeah,” Neal said with a nod and a frown.

“But… legally speaking, we are her mothers. You two have no grounds to stand on here. But thank you for bringing our daughter home safe to us.”

Li let out a sigh. “Renata, this isn’t going to be as easy as you hope it’ll be.”

“What are you talking about?”

Li looked at Emma and Neal sadly. “Audrey really loves you, y’know. She mentioned how safe and happy she felt with you guys. It would devastate her if we ripped her away from you.”

Neal nodded in understanding. “She told us you guys love her too.”

“This is a hell of a situation to be in…” Li said, frowning. “What are we going to do? She said you were from Boston. That’s hours from here.”

Emma and Neal looked at each other, smiling weakly at each other before they turned to Renata and LI.

“That’s right, but the good thing about our jobs is… we can work pretty much anywhere,” Emma said. “We discussed it with our son, and we decided that since Audrey has you two here, we’ll just have to stay here.”

Li blinked in surprise. “You - what? You’re willing to move to Storybrooke for her?”

“It’s as you said, Audrey loves both families. Even if our adoption fell through, it wouldn’t be fair to rip her away from one of them. So we’re willing to move here if that means keeping her happy.”

“And - and your son is okay with this?”

“It’d kill Henry to be away from Audrey. The two have been inseparable since we brought Audrey home,” Neal explained.

Li sighed. “Okay. Thank you. You’re right. We need to work together, for our daughter.”

Renata gave them a weak smile. “You better go tell Audrey the good news then. She’ll be thrilled.”

Neal nodded, he and Emma heading back to Audrey’s room, where they found the kids hunched over their DS systems.

“Henry, c’mon, get your stuff ready. We’ve got a long day tomorrow,” Neal said.

“Tomorrow? What’s tomorrow?” Audrey asked, biting her lip.

“I’m going to head back to Boston to get more of our stuff, and Emma’s going to enroll Henry in school,” Neal explained.

“Enroll him in school? But - ” Audrey said, cutting herself off before her eyes widened. “Are - are you guys moving to Storybrooke?”

Neal nodded. “That’s right. You and Henry are so close already, we decided it wouldn’t be fair to separate you two by going back to Boston while you stayed here with your moms. So we decided it was time to settle down somewhere a little quiet.”

“Your moms agreed to work with us, for your sake,” Emma said with a small smile. “Which is more than we deserve given you’re legally theirs, but… we’ll see you tomorrow, okay? We promise.”

Audrey nodded. “Okay… I love you.”

Emma leaned over to kiss her head. “We love you too.”

As they left the hospital, they could hear Audrey excitedly introducing Li and Renata to Snoopy.

#frozen warrior

Trending Tags

Recently Viewed Tags

#frozen warrior