One of the things I love about gif sets like this is that they isolate little moments and make you look at them. I’ve probably seen this scene more than a dozen times but the things that hit me here is “Why else would you be here.”
Emma doesn’t believe him, not about the curse or the risk of the Mayor knowing her ‘true’ identity or about Snow White being her mother. She’s not here for the curse. Henry brought her to town so she could break the curse, but Emma came to town for Henry. She’s there to make sure he’s safe and happy.
“Why else would you be here?”
He’s a ten year old boy and he thinks that she’s going to work with him to break the curse. At this point she’s like him to forget the curse, it makes no sense to her. But it doesn’t occur to Henry that she’s 100% not interested in the curse. She’s there for him, and only him. Not to find her parents because she doesn’t believe they’re in Storybrooke. Not to save everyone. But for him.
But that doesn’t occur to Henry. No one’s ever put Henry first before. No one’s been there for Henry and only for Henry. He has no reason to expect that she’s just interested in him and not what he can offer.
This is what I love about the Emma and Henry relationship. She always puts Henry first.
I really love Emma