[CLOSED] You don't remember me, but I remember you;

[cursebreaking]

Who: Emma Swan & Mary Margaret Blanchard
Where: Mary Margaret's room.
When: Late morning, 6/17.
Rating: PG
Summary: Emma's been holding onto the memory potion Hook brought with him. With Henry gone, there's only one person left to give it to.
The Story:

She'd been deliberating over it for months now, ever since Hook first arrived for his brief stay in Wonderland. Every time she thought she'd made up her mind about going through with it, she'd second-guessed herself, or some event had popped up to derail her plans, making giving either Henry or Mary Margaret the potion seem like a terrible idea all over again. Then Henry was gone, and there was only one option left. If Mary Margaret ever went home for any length of time, she would remember on her own-- but they couldn't wait for that forever. They couldn't count on that.

They could count on this potion. Emma knew that now. She'd been home. She'd seen it in action, knew there were no nasty side effects, knew it could be trusted. She was out of doubts to keep her from handing it over. All that was left was the guilt of potentially robbing Mary Margaret of her peace of mind.

Emma had to believe that this would be better for all of them. Sneaking around, hiding the truth all this time -- it was beginning to wear on her. On everyone else, too. It was time.

She took in a sharp breath as she came to a stop outside Mary Margaret's door, knocking twice. No more, no less.

"Mary Margaret? You in?"

Comments

[cinnamonie]

After Regina had pulled her aside to talk to her about magic, Mary Margaret had found herself in an interesting enough state of mind. Emma told her it was all real not long after she arrived, all the things Henry had said, had been trying to prove - it was all real, it was their life, but in Wonderland Mary Margaret had found a safe enough balance. She could agree, yes, sure, that was all real back home. Because she trusted Emma and knew Emma wouldn't lie to her.

But she had never had to deal with the truth. She never had to see it stare her straight in the face. Regina's fire, Regina's explanation, was a different experience entirely. A terrifying experience, really, that left her a little too unsure of just about everything else around her. She wasn't sure if she wanted to prove it wrong, or right, or what, but something inside her felt wrong. Like it was pushing her to deny it with everything she had.

Why? She wasn't sure. She tried to remember any reason why she should deny it, why it couldn't - or could - be real. But her memory was hazy, one phrase repeating itself over and over. For as long as I can remember...

She's sitting at her desk when the knocks come, nearly dropping her mug of hot chocolate on the counter-top. After a bit of fumbling she makes it to the door, still looking a little flustered but there. When she opens it, she sees Emma standing there, looking- well, conflicted for one.

She frowns. "Hi. Is everything okay?"

[cursebreaking]

"Hey."

She exhaled, hoping it would help to steady her, make her feel better. It didn't. Instead, she invited herself in, walking past Mary Margaret and pacing back and forth a few steps before turning to face her, reaching inside her jacket to produce the vial of violently blue potion. She grimaces, holding it out for inspection.

Feast your eyes, Mary Margaret.

"Everything's fine, but-- I've been holding onto this for awhile. It's a memory potion. Hook brought it here with him, left it behind."

She hadn't been holding out on it to keep anything from her, it was just... it was complicated.

"I know for sure that it works now. No nasty side-effects. ... it's safe."

[cinnamonie]

Mary Margaret closed the door behind Emma quietly, letting her eyes follow the other woman as she paced. When the vile was produced, Mary Margaret just sort of stared at it, blinking once or twice before she looks back to Emma and waits for an explanation.

Because whatever's in that vial? Doesn't look real. Doesn't look safe.

"Memory potion?" Her forehead creases a little, reaching out to take the vile from Emma and looking at it a little closer. "Why did Hook have a memory potion?"

Because she hasn't quite put together what Emma wants her to do. Hasn't quite figured out the reasoning behind it. That is, until she does. Her eyes go a little wide when she hears safe, looking back to Emma.

"You want me to drink this?"

[cursebreaking]

It's a lot of information at once, and it takes Mary Margaret's disbelief to remind Emma that she needs to slow down, back up. She's not talking to a Mary Margaret who's been through countless curses and spells, seen ogres and witches and whatever else they had there in the Enchanted Forest. This is Mary Margaret Blanchard, elementary school teacher, whose most daring endeavors included an unknowing reunion with her husband while he thought he was married to someone else.

Right. Okay.

"He had it to give to me. Before he came here, he'd been looking for me -- for a whole year, from the sounds of it." She'd been dubious when he first told her about it, but now that she'd lived it? There was no question. "My memories had been rewritten. He needed me to remember who I was so I could--"

What, save you? She couldn't say that.

"So I could take care of something important. But I have them back now. I've been home. I've got everything I need, but the potion is still here."

She sighs, folding her arms as she watches, letting Mary Margaret take her time in examining the vial.

"If you drink it, you'll remember who you really are. You've forgotten more than you realize. You trust me, right?"

[cinnamonie]

A lot of information at once? Emma, a lot of information at once was showing up in Wonderland. A lot of information at once was being told about magic, about how Henry's beliefs were real. A lot of information at once is watching people turn to animals when you touch them.

This is something different entirely.

But she listens to Emma, she watches the simple honesty of the retelling - all of this is real - and the way she crosses her arms over her chest. Waits. Mary Margaret looks down at the bottle again, feeling her shock solidify into something else. Something hard and cold in the pit of her stomach. She wants to ask about what happened back home, this rewriting of memories and something important she had to take care of, but she catches on the question instead, her eyes going just a little wide.

You trust me, right? "More than anyone." Is her immediate response, before she even realizes she's saying it. But then her eyes are back on the bottle, on the fact this is happening and that this could save them all the trouble of waiting to see if she'll ever go home.

"Are you okay with this?" Is the question she eventually comes up with, turning to Emma. "You're not just doing this for Regina, or because that woman - Zelena - is here?" Mary Margaret's mouth presses into a thin line, more out of stress than anything. "Because if this works-" She doesn't really mean if, but it comes out that way. "I won't be able to go back."

[cursebreaking]

"No, I'm not doing it for either of them."

But it was a good question. Was she okay with this? She hadn't been, not for a long while. She'd thought it would be better to wait, to see if Wonderland would let Mary Margaret go and live her life the way she was supposed to, or even if it brought her back -- at least then she would have remembered things naturally when the curse broke.

She'd wanted to wait, to put it off as long as possible because she just didn't know what the potion could do to a person, but she'd waited long enough. They'd both had. She'd gone home and taken the potion for herself. No nasty side-effects, nothing but what it promised to deliver. It was enough to convince her that this was the right thing to do.

She exhales slowly; not quite a sigh, but a way to center herself, prepare herself for what's coming, despite the fact that Mary Margaret is the one about to be put through the ringer.

"I know you won't be able to go back. But this -- this will be better. I promise. You need to remember who you are."

She pauses for just a moment, a beat.

"I need you to remember."