Leia had been excited to be a big sister. But that was before.
It had been less than a week since Alice had been born, and the excitement had already worn off. Leia wished her parents would send the baby back. All she did was cry, and her parents never seemed to have time for her anymore. To make matters worse, nobody else had time for her either. All anybody seemed to care about was the baby.
Yesterday morning, Leia had asked her mom to play tea party with her. Her mother had told her that she had to feed Alice, and that she would play with her later. But when Leia came back later, her mom was asleep.
She saw her dad and asked him to give her a piggy back ride, but he was too busy rocking Alice to sleep.
Only a few hours ago, Leia had gone into the sitting room to see if anyone would play with her, but they were all fussing over Alice. They didn't even notice her standing there.
"Isn't she just the cutest?" Snow asked, as she looked down at the tiny baby in her arms.
"She certainly is." David agreed, as he ran a hand gently over Alice's head.
"Well, with a devilishly handsome man like myself as her father..." Killian began. He was cut off by a smack on the arm from Emma.
"Well, I think she looks like Emma." Snow argued.
"Really?" Emma asked. "I don't see it."
"Well I do." David murmured. "She looks a lot like you did."
"She's perfect." Snow whispered.
"Do you think she'll have blonde hair?" Henry asked. "It's a light brown now, Hope was born with her blonde hair."
"Emma's hair was a light brown too." Snow recalled.
"What color hair did the twins have?" Henry asked curiously.
Emma laughed. "They were both born with pitch black hair. It lightened a bit over time."
Alice sneezed, and all the adults started to fuss over her again.
Leia huffed. Nobody cared when she sneezed.
Leia turned to leave and that's when she bumped into Hope.
"You know they won't have time for you anymore, right?" Hope said in a bossy tone.
"That's not true." Leia argued.
"Yes it is. You and Liam aren't the youngest anymore. You just aren't as cute."
Leia shoved her way past her older sister, tears streaming down her face. She stomped up to her room and slammed the door. That was when she decided that she was going to run away.
Leia had all her bags packed and was ready to run away. She figured sneaking past her family wouldn't be an issue, they wouldn't notice. But getting past the guards might be harder.
Leia was surprised however at how easily she was able to sneak past them.
She was on her way. On her way where? She didn't know. But she was leaving, and she was never coming back.
Meanwhile, back at the castle, Emma had just put Alice to sleep. She went to find her other children and panicked when she couldn't find Leia.
"It's a big castle love, I'm sure she's around here somewhere." Killian consoled his wife.
But as everyone searched the castle and came up empty handed, Emma grew more and more worried.
Just then, David walked into the room. He was pale.
"The castle doors were open. I...I think she left the castle."
"I have to go find her!" Emma panicked.
Killian put a hand out to stop his wife. "I'll go find Leia. You need to stay here."
Emma shook her head. "No, I'm not staying here while my daughter is who knows where. I'm coming with."
"Emma, you just had a baby five days ago. You aren't in any condition to go looking." Killian pointed out.
Emma opened her mouth to argue but was cut off by her father.
"Emma, Killian is right. You need to stay here and rest."
David could see the tears in his daughters eyes and he put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Emma, we will find her. I promise we will. She'll be okay."
"It's my fault she ran away." Hope said, tears in her eyes.
"What are you talking about, Starfish?" Killian asked.
"I told her you didn't have time for her anymore."
Emma's eyes flashed with anger. "WHAT? Hope, how could you? Why would you say something like that?"
Hope shrugged. "It's true! You only have time for Alice now. All anyone does is pay attention to her."
Emma broke down and started crying. "It's all my fault. She wanted me to play with her, I told her I was busy. I told her...she's gone and it's all my fault."
"Oh baby." Snow breathed. "It's not your fault. You just had a baby, of course you're going to be busy." She pulled her daughter into her arms.
"Your mother is right love. It's not your fault. We'll find her." Killian said firmly.
So David, Killian, Henry and even Regina went to look for Leia. Snow stayed back with Emma.
"She can't have gone far." Killian announced. "She's only a little girl, she can't have gone far." He desperately wanted to believe he was right.
Everyone took a horse and set out to find the lost little girl.
"LEIA...LEIA. WHERE ARE YOU? LEIA?" Killian shouted.
"LEIA!" Killian shouted. "LEIA!"
After searching for a while with no luck, it started to rain. There was a loud boom of thunder.
"She's scared of the thunder." Killian whispered. "She's terrified of storms. She'll hide."
"Alright, we need to split up." David declared. "We'll have a better chance finding her if we spread out."
Everyone nodded and they all went their separate ways.
David had been searching for about five minutes when he thought he heard a cry. He stopped his horse and listened carefully. He was about to say he had imagined it when he heard it again. David got off his horse and headed into the woods.
"Leia....Leia, are you in here?"
David stopped as he heard a noise. It was coming from behind the bush. He quickened his pace until he got to the bush. He peeked behind it and saw a soaking wet and frightened Leia sitting with her knees drawn to her chest.
There was another loud boom of thunder and Leia jumped, letting out a frightened cry.
David let out a sigh of relief. "Leia, come here princess." He said softly.
Leia looked up, her face red and blotchy from crying. When she saw her Grandpa she jumped up and threw herself into his arms.
David lifted his granddaughter up and held her close, cradling the back of her head in his hand. He could feel her body shaking as she cried.
"Shhh. It's okay. Your'e okay." He whispered.
"I...I want...I want mama." Leia sobbed.
"I know princess." David said. "Let's get you home."
David carried Leia back to the horse and placed her on top before climbing up behind her. He thought about finding the others, more specifically Killian. Another roar of thunder echoed in the sky followed by a bolt of lightning. Hope whimpered in fear and David knew he needed to get her back. He didn't even know where exactly the others were, he would come back to find them. Right now, Leia was his number one priority.
"Your parents are worried sick about you." David whispered as he headed back towards the castle.
"They don't care. They only care about the stupid baby." Leia cried.
"No." David firmly said. "Leia, that isn't true. Your dad is out here looking for you. He's worried." David paused for a moment before continuing. "Your mom wanted to come too. She..."
"Had to stay home with the baby." Leia grumbled.
"Leia, your mom loves you." David insisted. "She loves you so much. When she found out you ran away...I can't remember ever seeing her so scared."
"My mama doesn't get scared." Leia sniffed.
David smiled. "Everyone gets scared Leia. It's true that your mom is very brave, but even she gets scared."
David waited, but Leia didn't say anything.
"She was very upset when she couldn't find you." David continued. "She was ready to go out looking for you. She didn't want to listen to us when we told her to stay back. She thinks it's her fault you ran away."
Leia shook her head. "It isn't mama's fault. It's Alice's fault."
"Alice is just a baby. She needs people to take care of her. She can't do any of the things that you can yet. That's why your mom and dad spend a lot of time with her. But that doesn't mean they don't love you."
They were nearly home now, and David steered the horse into the stables.
"I know for a fact that your mom would love to play with you. But she's tired from caring for your sister. Maybe you could help her. I know you're a big helper." David suggested. "I'm sure your mom would love the help."
David got off of the horse and helped Leia down. He picked her up and started walking quickly towards the castle. He opened the castle doors and could see Emma pacing nervously.
"They've been gone a while. What if something happened?" Emma worried.
Snow put a hand on her daughters shoulder. "I'm sure everything is fine. They could be on their way home right now."
"But what if they aren't? Leia is terrified of storms. She's out there, probably scared and alone..."
Emma stopped when she heard footsteps. She looked up to see her dad standing there, Leia in his arms.
"Leia!" Emma gasped. She rushed forward and pulled her soaking wet daughter out of her fathers arms. She held the little girl close and kissed her head.
"Leia, oh baby. I was so worried."
"I'm sorry mama. I'm sorry." Leia whispered. "Please don't cry mama. I'm okay!"
This just made Emma cry harder.
David smiled at the scene in front of him. He felt his wife's arm around him.
"I have to go find the others." He stated.
Snow frowned. "They aren't with you?"
"We split up." David explained. "We thought we'd have a better chance finding her that way. I would have went to find them, but it's raining pretty hard out there and..."
David didn't get the chance to finish his sentence before Emma threw her arms around him.
"Thank you!" She whispered.
David put his arm around his daughter and hugged her close. "Of course." He said.
David went back out to find the others while Emma went to get Leia dried up.
Just as Emma was drying Leia off with a towel, Alice started to cry. Emma continued to dry Leia off before reaching for a pair of pajamas.
Leia frowned. "Baby is crying." She muttered.
Emma smiled gently. "I know. She can wait. I don't want you getting sick."
She got her daughter into a fresh pair of pajamas before setting her back on the bed. She kneeled in front of her daughter before pulling her into a hug. "Don't ever do that again." She lectured.
She sat there for a moment, just holding her daughter. Alice continued to wail.
"Mama, Alice is crying."
"I know." Emma whispered, but she didn't move.
"She's just a baby mama. She needs you."
Emma choked back a sob. "Your'e my baby too." She insisted.
"I'm not a baby mama. I'm a big girl." Leia giggled. Then she said "Can I help with Alice?"
Emma pulled back to look at her daughter. "Of course you can. I would love your help."
When everyone got back, they found Emma sitting on the sofa, an arm around Leia who was holding a sleeping Alice.
David smiled. It looked like his granddaughter had taken his advice.
Leia still got jealous every now and then, but from that day on she never doubted how much her mother loved her. That day, Leia vowed to be the best big sister there was.