Board Thread:Show-Related Questions and Answers/@comment-26443838-20160702210032/@comment-27885419-20160704171159

To be specific, I didn't get the sense of "saved" her either :/

Basically, Emma thought Snow had died and was grief-stricken. When they discovered she was alive and restored her to human form, Emma hugged her out of relief, but Snow, not even having met her before, was indifferent and slightly confused at her behaviour. Emma had "lost" her, because this wasn't the Snow she knew, that is, her mother. That made Emma realize how Snow felt when Emma refused to acknowledge her as her mother, and the extent to which she hurt her by that.