Fleeting Moments || Open

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Emma Swan, Drunken Menace?

Eyewitnesses report that last Friday night they saw Sheriff Emma Swan stumbling out of a less than reputable establishment. Concerned, one of them tried to make contact with the sheriff, only to be yelled at mercilessly and reduced to tears. The obviously intoxicated sheriff proceeded to get in her car and drive away, going well over the speed limit. This lack of common sense and complete disregard for the law does not bode well for Storybrooke. The...

Emma groaned, dropping her head sot hat her chin touched her chest. "Just perfect," she muttered to herself. What stupid lies would The Mirror come up with next? It had to be Regina's doing, though the sheriff knew she'd never be able to prove it. It was just unbelievable that this sort of thing kept happening to her. First the articles about her arrest, and then worse, the article telling the story of Henry's birth. What next? She wouldn't put it past the publication to start making up stories about how she killed someone. That would be just her luck.

Heaving a sigh the blonde raised her cup of cocoa to her lips and took a long sip, closing her eyes to relish the wonderful sweetness of the chocolate. Swallowing she let out a low hum of contentment, her anger already fading away. It was amazing what a little chocolate could do to raise a girl's spirits when she was down. Now, if only it helped to keep her awake than everything would be perfect. Unfortunately, only coffee could provide that particular service.

Emma stifled a yawn, drinking more of the cocoa in what she already knew to be a futile attempt to make herself more alert. Yesterday had been a long day, culminating in chasing a drunk burglar across the entire city before finally managing to catch him near the Toll Bridge. Really, what sort of person decides to drink mass quantities of alcohol and then rob a jewelry store? It made no sense to her. But then, the criminal mind had always been a puzzle to the former bonds-woman. She had long ago given up trying to understand and had chosen to just track them down and bring them in no questions asked. It was easier that way.

She yawned again, her eyes dragging over the few other people who were in the diner this early. It was barely seven in the morning so luckily not that many people were around. Unfortunately that meant that she still had a long day ahead of her. One that would be, no doubt, filled with comments and disapproving stares about the article in The Mirror. She mentally grimaced. She wanted coffee. She needed coffee, but she had promised Mary Margaret that she would try and cut back on the drink; at least for a few days. Why oh why had she agreed to that? For the life of her she couldn't remember.

Stretching slightly she returned her attention to the paper, her lips pressed into a thin line as she reread the article. "Garbage..." she seethed bitterly. She was so engrossed in the trash that she didn't even notice when the bell above the door jingled, signaling someone's entrance to the diner.

[marian]

Elizabeth sighed and stretched as she woke up to a beautiful sunny morning. Since she was alone in bed she had space to stretch out. Her boyfriend had already left for work and was kind enough not to wake her. She sat up in bed in the small house that they shared and looked around for a moment. She had everything a girl could want. A handsome boyfriend, a good job, a home, and yet sometimes she would wake up in the morning and feel like something was missing. She could never put her finger on it but no matter how hard she tried she felt there was just something incomplete about her life. She sighed in defeat. Whatever it was she would have to learn to get over it. After another second of nothing Elizabeth finally got out of bed and putting on her slippers and robe walked into the kitchen.

Her boyfriend must of have made some coffee for himself because there was a fresh new batch in the pot. The morning's paper was on the counter top. She wondered what interesting stories could have made today's paper. And there in bold letters was a brand new story on the new sheriff of Storybrooke. Elizabeth let out another sigh. She felt bad for the new sheriff. The young woman had done nothing worthy of all this trouble. At least Elizabeth didn't think so. She wondered what Miss Swan did to receive such repercussions. And there was only one real person that had the ability to go destroying someone's image like this although no one would ever actually admit it. Regina had a basic hold on everyone in this town. How Regina could feel so threatened by this woman was beyond her.

Elizabeth eventually got dressed and decided to stop by Granny's Diner on her way to the daycare where she worked. She parked out front and walked inside. Considering how early it was the place was practically empty. That was why her eyes fell on a certain blonde that spoke. She nodded her head to Ruby signalling that she would have her usual, a hot chocolate with pancakes and scrambled eggs. "You shouldn't believe everything you read Miss Swan. Those reporters can be great exaggerators." she said kindly.

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A voice drew the sheriff from her musings. Reporters exaggerate? That was the understatement of the century, Emma thought to herself. Looking up she found herself face to face with a complete stranger. Just how many people live in Storybrooke anyway? she wondered. It seemed like every day she met someone new. Odd, since before Henry came to her on her birthday, she had never even heard of Storybrooke, Maine. It couldn’t be that big of a town, could it? She had driven around a few times, and it didn’t seem that large, but that didn’t necessarily mean much. Appearances could be very deceiving, after all. Regardless of the town size, it was a bit embarrassing to not recognize hardly anyone here; particularly given her new position as Sheriff. How could she do her job properly if she didn’t know anyone? Pushing that thought aside she smiled wryly.

”And here I thought my spotlight time would be over once Sydney was out of office. Too bad,” she laughed slightly, humorously. ”I guess I should be grateful that this is all they printed.”

Which was true. There were many things in her past that Emma was all too happy to keep buried. Though, the longer she stayed in Storybrooke, the sooner many of those things would undoubtedly be exposed. Not that she could do anything about that since it wasn’t like she could go around arresting anyone who made her angry. It was tempting, but the idea was unrealistic. She particularly couldn’t arrest journalists without probable cause, since that would end up being messy all around. Especially since she now had to consider Henry and his feelings. God, he looked up to her as such a hero. If he knew all the sordid details, than what? He’d never speak to her again. Leaning back against the booth she smiled again.

”Sorry, I don’t believe we’ve officially met. You are…” she trailed off awkwardly, wishing there was a more delicate way to ask the question. It was strange, having everyone know who she was, and not know them in return. At least maybe she could rectify that. ”Do you want to sit down? It’s always nice to meet someone who doesn’t think I’m the spawn of Satan.”

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[marian]

Elizabeth had lived in Storybrooke all her life. It had always been a relatively quiet and boring place. Nothing ever happened and lives just when on in a normaly daily routine for everyone. It was the way it was and no one ever questioned it. Then one day that all changed with the arrival of Miss Swan. It was a rather weird occurrence actually. One of the weirdest parts was that the old clock tower began to work. All her life she had never seen the hands move past their 8:15 position. Then one day she woke up and there it was, moving accordingly. It all started with the arrival of Miss Swan.

It wasn't hard to miss Miss Swan. This was kind of town that knew everyone from birth and so Miss Swan's entrance hadn't gone unnoticed by the people of Storybrooke. Soon people became aware of her connection to Storybrooke, her son Henry, or more formally known as Mayor Regina's son Henry. This had been big news, it was more the fact that this had been the most interesting thing to happen to Storybrooke in forever and of course the story didn't end there. In the short time since Miss Swan's arrival so much had happened. The town had lost their dear Sheriff Graham and in the process had gained a new sheriff in Miss Swan.

"Oh how rude. I'm Elizabeth Knight. I work at the daycare center." she said kindly. She smiled in thanks to Miss Swan's offer and sat down opposite of her. ""You're far too pretty for that. Besides, you can't judge a person until you meet them." Miss Swan had been putting up fights against Regina and Mr.Gold since her arrival, in Elizabeth's book that showed she had guts and she liked that. Elizabeth had never been fond of the Mayor nor the town owner but like basically everyone else in town she never had it in her to stand up against either of them. So to see Miss Swan doing saw was rather inspiring. "I'm sure you've been meeting people left and right since becoming sheriff. Congratulations by the way. I was quite happy when you won. Heavens only knows how life would have been if Sydney had taken over." By this time Ruby brought over Elizabeth's order and placed in front of her. Elizabeth gave her thanks before Ruby left. "I hope you don't mind." she said to Miss Swan.

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”A daycare, huh?” Emma mentally shuddered. Little children running around, putting their hands in things they weren’t supposed to, eating things they weren’t supposed to… there was no doubt in her mind that she would never be able to have such a job. Children had never been her strong suit, even when she was a child. She knew she could blame it on the older children who had picked on her when she was in the system, but it wouldn’t be entirely fair to place the blame on them. ”Sounds interesting,” she added with what she hoped was a pleasant smile.

When Ruby came over with Elizabeth’s food Emma was silent, cupping her hot chocolate mug between her hands. Once the waitress had left she shook her head. ”No, not at all.” She took a sip of her cocoa and almost sighed. Even though she had been drinking the same thing every day since her arrival in the town she just couldn’t get enough of it. Hot cocoa with cinnamon was by far her favorite guilty pleasure, and Granny’s version was too delicious for her own good. She took another slow sip of the rich beverage before lowering the cup to the table. ”Thanks. I probably shouldn’t say this, but… I still can’t help but wonder why Sydney agreed to run. He hardly seemed qualified.”

Even though Madame Mayor had insisted that he was, since he knew the town so well. But even that statement made Emma question both their motives. Yes, knowing the town was important to be sure. But then, so was being able to handle any crime that came its way. And Sydney, despite his ability to dig up dirt on people, didn’t seem the time to be running down criminals in the middle of the night. But then again, was she qualified? Sure, she had spent several years as a bonds enforcement agent, but did that give her the right to try to protect a town? The debacle the election had turned into hardly gave her confidence. Glancing up at the woman sitting across from her she decided to ask.

”Honestly, I’m surprised I won,” she began. ”Especially after what The Mirror posted about me. Does standing up to Madame Mayor and Mr. Gold really mean that much here?”

[marian]

Elizabeth smiled and couldn't help but softly giggle. "I know the idea isn't exactly appealing to everyone but I've always loved taking care and helping children so the idea was a no brainer." Elizabeth has always been the helpful type, wanting to make a difference in a person's life. She thought what better way to do so than help the youngsters when they're still small. Of course she volunteered in many things around the town but her first love was always the daycare.

Elizabeth normally ate alone when she came to the diner so this was a little change for her but being that Emma didn't have food in front of her she had felt a bit embarrassed at first. Thankfully her nerves were distinguished by Emma's reassurance. "So your a hot chocolate girl too?" she said with a smile before taking a bit of her pancakes. She wiped her mouth with the napkin and started drinking from her own glass when Emma made her comment about Sydney. Elizabeth only nodded her head. "I completely agree. The only thing Sydney has ever been able to do is reveal the secrets of the towns people. And it's not exactly a mystery who his work benefits." Elizabeth shouldn't exactly be talking so freely about all this but it didn't take a genius to know that there was obviously more going on behind the scenes and being kept from the people of Storybrooke.

Emma's next question didn't surprise Elizabeth. A light smile crept onto her face. "In a nutshell? Yes. I've lived here my whole life while Mr. Gold owns the town and Regina runs it not really knowing who you should be more concerned about. Then you come along and you do what the rest of us have basically been scared to do. So for us, that definitely means something." she said with encouraging smile.

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Embarrassed that she had been found out Emma squirmed, fighting a blush. ”It’s not that I don’t like children,” she said quietly, naturally defensive. ”I’m just no good at taking care of them.” Why am I so defensive? she wondered to herself, mentally slapping herself in the forehead. There was no need to be so snippy with this perfectly nice woman. Being rude would just encourage the rumors and alienate one more person. Smiling a bit sheepishly she shrugged. ”But it’s great that you love it. Children need helpers who are actually interested in the work, rather than ones who are just doing it for money.” Realizing that teachers didn’t actually make much money she laughed slightly. ”Or whatever other selfish reasons they might have.”

”Oh yeah, hot chocolate is the best,” Emma said, relieved at the change of topic since she had already pushed herself into a corner she wasn’t sure she could get herself out of. Her lips twitched into a smile. ”Although I think my brain and my waistline miss the coffee.” As if to prove her words true a yawn forced its way out. Covering her mouth she sighed. ”Sorry… late night.” Her eyes caught sight of the article still in front of her and she grimaced. ‘Late night’ made it seem that the article was true. But then, if it was true, she probably wouldn’t be drinking chocolate, would she? After all, chocolate wasn’t her hangover remedy of choice; not that anyone would know that except her. ”Work,” she added, just to be on the safe side.

Emma breathed a sigh at Elizabeth’s next words. Great… So it was true then; she had been hired because she went against Gold and Regina. And neither of those things were really an accomplishment, at least not in her mind. Henry would naturally say that it was, considering who Regina was, but Emma still believed that to be childish nonsense. No matter what he did to convince her, it was so farfetched that she just couldn’t bring herself to even consider the possibility of it being true. Not that she would ever tell Henry that again, not after what happened the last time someone had tried. Gods, she still had nightmares about him being trapped down in the mining tunnels. There was no way she would open that can of worms just yet.

”I see…” she said at length. ”Well… I just hope I won’t disappoint. I know I probably won’t be as good at being sheriff as Graham was, but I hope I can live up to everyone’s expectations.” Or at least not fall too far below them. Even that wasn’t too important to her though, since Henry’s opinion was really the only one that mattered.

[marian]

When Elizabeth immediately realized what she had done her face turned to an apologetic one. "No, no I didn't mean to imply anything." She mentally slapped herself. Sometimes Elizabeth forgot to think before speaking. What she had said was meant to implicate Emma as not liking kids. It just was that she had gotten comments on numerous occasion as to how Elizabeth was able to put up with the toddlers all day. Of course it wasn't an easy job. Some of the little tykes could be a handful but it was a job that Elizabeth loved the none the less. Her smile returned when Emma spoke again. "Couldn't agree more." she said before taking another bite from her food and drink from her cup.

Elizabeth nodded in understanding. She had caught a glance at the paper and its article again but didn't think of it. If it was true that Miss Swan had been at that bar no doubt there had to be an perfectly logical explanation and not what the paper would want people to believe. "No worries. Sometimes hot chocolate is the only thing that keeps me going sometimes. That and the occasional energy bar." Elizabeth definitely needed the energy when keeping up with the kids if not they'd wear you out in an instant. She learned that the hard way.

Elizabeth believed her words were true. Standing up not only to one but to stand up to both Regina and Mr.Gold was something that was basically unheard of in Storybrooke. No one ever had the guts to do one let alone both and for Emma, the stranger so to speak of the town, to do so without hesitation was quite astounding but Elizabeth could see it to be something that could be considered a burden. After all, not only was she taking on the responsibility of the town but she was stepping into some rather big shoes. Graham had been such a caring and looked up to man that would not go miss. Elizabeth smiled a encouraging smile. "I doubt that will happen Miss Swan. After all, you have something that motivates you. And when we a strong reason to encourage us we can only do our very best." she said before taking another drink from her cup.

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Emma almost wanted to sigh with relief that the other woman hadn't wanted her to elaborate about work. That would hardly have been appropriate behaviour on her part. That didn't seem to stop people from asking though, since it often felt like she had someone asking her almost every day how work was. A lot of those little comments here and there made we wonder if they were just waiting for her to fall on her face, but who knows? Certainly not she. For all she knew that was just typical small town attitude. Best to just smile and be polite. And preferably as vague as possible.

"Oh yeah, got to have protein bars. Can't live without them." Emma grinned. "Especially when alarm clocks fail and there isn't enough time for real food." For the better part of her twenties the sheriff had been addicted to protein bars, shakes, and anything else that could be eaten on the go. It seemed like there had always been too many things to do and just never enough hours in the day. At least she had gotten better at eating regularly since moving in with Mary Margaret.

Elizabeth's next words were equally true, if not more so. Emma did have something to motivate her now; or more accurately, someone. A soft smile spread out on her face as she thought about him. "Yeah, I guess you're right." Her smile faded as the full realization of what that meant came to her. How had this happened again? She had only planned on staying in Storybrooke long enough to make sure Henry was okay. But now it seemed like she was living here full time, with no plans on leaving anytime soon. Oh boy... To keep herself from starting to panic, Emma swiftly chose to change the subject. "So, other than working at the daycare, what do you do?" She forced a smile. "Boyfriend?"

[marian]

Elizabeth thought it best not to question Miss Swan about her work. No doubt people have been bombarding her with questions already and when stories like the one printed into this morning's paper people would only be questioning and talking more. Elizabeth could only imagine how that must feel and figured that one less person to do so would be comforting for Miss Swan. After all, she didn't want to give off the impression that she nosy or anything. It was hard enough to be the newcomer to the town and now to be the newbie on top of being the new sheriff no doubt Miss Swan would have people poking her with questions as if she was some kind of science experiment. "I'd be a goner if I didn't keep a few energy bars with me. The children can definitely wear you out." she said with a light giggled.

Elizabeth's words were meant to imply Henry. It had become public knowledge that Miss Swan was in fact the biological mother of Henry who so happen to be Madame Mayor's adoptive son. That was her reason for coming to Storybrooke and it was well believed by Elizabeth and the majority of everyone that was why she continued to stay. Even if the story as to how Emma gave birth to dear Henry is true as it was written in the papers, the two still had a connection and that was what keeping Miss Swan here. Elizabeth was taking another bite from her meal when Miss Swan changed the subject. Elizabeth paid no heed to it and just smile bore a small smile.

"Aside from the daycare? Nothing much I guess. I volunteer here and there around the town." then she asked the boyfriend question. "Actually I do. We've been dating for two years now. Seems like forever though." her voice trailing off at the with a light smile as she drank from her cup. She was happy with her life. An amazing boyfriend and great job. She couldn't be happier. Right? At least she believed it to be true. Then why was it that it always felt like she was missing something. That her life was meant to be different. She didn't know what it was.