raspberryhunter

Okay, I said I was just going to post once I was done with this thing, but it's long enough that I'm going to post when each part (of 3) is finished. This installment, Part I, is chapters 1-6 of 16.

It also has developed into an answer not just to

jedibuttercup's NPT prompt but also my own. And an answer to my continuing issues with this show concerning adoptive/foster parents. I cannot help but write issue-fixit for this fandom, I am sorry!

Title: The Best Chance
Fandom: Once Upon a Time
Rating: PG
Spoilers: All of Season 1
Characters: Emma, Baelfire, Henry, Regina, Mary Margaret, David Nolan, Mr. Gold
Relationship: Emma/Gold (eventually), Emma/August(past), Belle/Rumpelstiltskin (past), Snow/Charming
Summary: Some families are bound by blood, some by law, and some simply by choice, but family always finds one another. (Season 1 AU.)

Prompt: I want to see [the characters of Emma and Gold] on a more equal and honest footing... Or an AU where August and Emma were placed in the same home as Baelfire, and they all grew up much more functionally, and came to Storybrooke prepared.

Prompt: How does Gold turn back from the sort of person who tortures Moe French to the generous sheep farmer Bae longs for? Does he even want to?

Chapter 1 on AO3.