AN: Because that episode left me with too many feelings. This is based off the promo for 3x11, and some theories that either I have or I've seen on Tumblr.
Wasn't time supposed to slow down in these moments? During those times when there was no other options. That moment of realization that there were no other chances, no way out. Nothing that could be done to stop what was coming.
Time was supposed to trickle to a slow drip.
So why was it speeding up? As if her last few minutes were being sucked from her too quickly for her to deal with, for her to figure out exactly what she was feeling.
Maybe because she knew what she was feeling. Lost. Broken. Terrified.
'Emma?'
She turned quickly, everything so quickly, and felt warm hands grabbing her, pulling her in. Her parents, Mary Margaret and David, Snow White and Prince Charming, the fairy tale that she never would have known how to enjoy like she should, but she wanted to, she wanted that chance more than anything.
Family.
She needed that in her bones.
Her face crumpled as they wrapped their arms around her and each other, and for once she didn't try to hold back the tears, pressing her face against David's shoulder. She felt his hand on the back of her head, cradling it like he always did when he held her, like he'd barely had the chance to when she was a baby. Mary Margaret's arm loosened from around her but then there was a smaller body behind her, gripping her tightly, and she twisted, throwing her arm around him and pulling him into the centre of their desperate hug, the four of them clutching each other.
They'd had so little time together. Not enough, never enough. She'd never felt as complete as she did with her bizarre, beautiful family, and now...
There were minutes left at most before the curse would take them. And when they woke up on the other side, none of them would remember who they were, or who they were to each other.
'I love you,' she said thickly, hugging Henry tighter, pressing herself closer to her parents. She hadn't told them that before and now she hated herself for it, hated herself for her inability to let people into her heart. But now she meant it with everything that she had. If only they'd had more time.
'Wait,' an accented voice said from not too far behind her, and it was all too much, still too much, never enough time, everything moving too, too fast. A sob escaped her and she pressed her cheek to the top of Henry's head.
If only they'd had more time.
'There might be a way.'
Emma finally pulled away from her parents, although Mary Margaret's hand remained grasped hers tightly and she left her hand on Henry's shoulder. Finally, she looked at him, looked at Hook, and if her heart wasn't broken before it surely was now. He looked carefully between her and Regina, and each time his eyes landed on her they softened just a little. 'What are you talking about?' she asked him, wrapping her forearm across Henry's chest and pulling him back to press against her.
'Your mother,' he said, glancing at Regina, but then he looked back to her, always to her. 'Cora. She shielded a part of the forest from the curse all those years ago. Can we do the same?'
Her breath caught in her throat and she tore her eyes away from him, reluctantly letting go of Henry and walking up to Regina. 'Is he right?' she asked, not daring to hope, not daring to believe.
She couldn't recall a time when she'd seen Regina truly afraid. Even in Neverland, when they'd both been terrified for Henry, they'd both channeled that into anger and into the rescue, but there was nothing to distract them from this. Regina was pale, a tremor taking her quickly every few seconds. Has she ever felt so powerless before? Emma wondered dimly.
Emma had, and it was because of that why she was so terrified now. I don't want to go back to being alone.
Regina's shoulders straightened and her jaw set, and the Evil Queen was back. 'I don't have enough magic to protect the whole town,' she said, glancing over her shoulder. 'Maybe only us. Cora was stronger than I am.'
'Do we have enough magic?' Emma pressed, drawing Regina's full attention back to her. She couldn't hope, she couldn't, but she was, just a little. And she felt that hope spark when Regina nodded slowly, a cautious smile ghosting her lips.
'Step back, and follow my lead.'
Emma obeyed her quickly, backing up a metre or so and copying Regina as she looked up and raised her hands into the air.
She knew how this worked, even if she was relying on Regina to know what to do with the magic that Emma could supply. Think of the people who you needed to protect. And so she did. Closing her eyes, she poured everything she could into the brief memories that she had with all of the people that she cared so much for, after the remarkably short time that she'd known them. Mary Margaret and David, who hadn't wanted to let her go, and who'd fought for her every second since they'd known who she was, and even before that. Henry, who was everything that she hadn't dared to hope for in her secret dreams about the son that she'd desperately wished that she hadn't given up.
Hook, who had done everything for her in Neverland. He'd given her hope, he'd had faith in her, had encouraged her and supported her in a way that the others hadn't been able to. Who loved her more than she deserved to be loved.
Neal, who was here now and fighting for her and Henry, who Henry already adored and maybe, yes, she knew he could be the father that Henry needed.
Even Regina, who if nothing else, shared the fierce protectiveness for Henry, who loved him as much as she did.
All of these people that she wanted to protect, and not just them, but this whole town and its people who had finally given her a home after twenty eight years of searching for one.
She would protect them.
The energy coursed through her in a way that always scared her, that exhilarated her. She opened her eyes and saw a purple light coming from her fingertips, reaching into the sky to meld with the same that came from Regina, twisting together into a column and then spreading across the sky like a dome.
'It's working,' Mary Margaret gasped.
A little, shocked laugh spilled from Emma's lips and she forced every single sudden ounce of hope into the power that she was feeding Regina.
The sky seemed to darken and Emma squinted upward. A smoke seemed to be gathering, but it didn't look like the green, swirling smoke that was the dark curse, but a midnight black, darker that the darkest thunder clouds. Her breath caught in her throat as the smoke swirled lower, down underneath the stretching reach of the barrier they were making, gathering inside the dome.
She glanced across to Regina, wondering whether to panic like the tingling of her skin told her to. Regina watched the smoke cautiously, then her eyes widened. 'No, no, no!'
Emma's eyes flicked quickly up to the sky again, and she saw the smoke moving, bulging and changing shape, and it wasn't until just before it took it's true form that she realized that it was becoming human. Like a shadow. Cries and angry shouts came from all around her but Emma just stood still in shock as the shadow darted up quickly through the air, not stopping as it reached the purple barrier and flew straight through it, the dome shattering as it broke through.
The purple tendrils coming from her fingers shrunk back into her and she felt a shock throughout her body as her magic failed her. She staggered back, staying on her feet only thanks to the steady arms that caught her and held her upright. 'Was that Pan?' she gasped.
'I'm going to kill the little shit,' Regina growled.
She pulled herself free of Hook's grip, stepping forward to pull Regina to her feet since no one had moved quickly enough to catch her. 'Come on, we have to try again,' she said desperately.
'I don't think there's time for another go at it, love,' Hook said, and she turned back to face him. He nodded up to the sky and she followed his gaze to see the shadow flying in circles above their heads. 'I don't think Pan's going to let us escape this one.'
'Your pirate's right, Emma,' Regina said from behind her. 'It's too late.'
It's too late.
From the corner of her eye she saw Henry run into Regina's arms, her parents clinging to each other, Neal with his arms around Belle. And as her world fell apart, as the last spark of hope fled her heart, she couldn't look away from Hook.
And she broke.
He stepped up to her quickly, opening his arms and she fell into them, clutching at his jacket, gripping the leather as tightly as she could in her fists but it wasn't enough, so she wrapped her arms around his waist as his settled over her shoulders, pulling him closer, closer, never close enough. She pressed her face against his chest hard enough that she couldn't breathe, didn't want to anyway. But that wasn't right, how could she learn his scent so quickly if she couldn't breathe? She moved one arm up to wrap around his neck and pulled him down enough that she could press her face into the hollow of his neck, fitting under his chin, and she breathed in like she'd never take another breath. He smelled like the sea and she shouldn't have been surprised but it was more than she could take, and she felt herself trembling as she let her breath out heavily.
And he must have known, must have been battling those same overwhelming emotions, because she felt his face in her hair, his lips hard on the top of her head, almost too hard, just like the way they gripped each other but it couldn't never be enough.
There wasn't enough time.
But there could have been. God, there could have been.
'I'm sorry,' she whispered against his skin.
Hook pulled away from her and at first she fought him, needing this contact while she could take it, but when she caught a sight of his face she let him pull back. This was something she needed too, to take in every inch of his face and commit it to memory with everything inside of her in the hope that it would stay with her. And somehow he knew that she wasn't talking about their failed attempt at saving them from the curse, or for what was about to become of them. Somehow, he always knew.
No one had ever known her as well.
She should have faced it sooner. Despite her fears, despite the impossible wall that she'd built, she should have at least faced the truth about her feelings for him. He'd given her everything with no demands in return, and she'd used that lack of pressure to run and hide and delay. He'd been nothing but good to her and her family since he'd returned with the bean, and she'd pushed aside her emotions in fear.
She shouldn't have been afraid. Never of him, not of her own feelings. She knew that now, and it was too late.
'You've nothing to be sorry for, my love,' he said softly, and even the altered endearment was enough to break her heart anew. He slid his arm from around her and wrapped his fingers around her hand, bringing it up to press his lips gently against her knuckles. He never looked away from her, and his eyes looked so sad, but he also looked... accepting. Slowly, he lowered their hands but kept hers in his. 'I could never regret knowing you, Emma,' he told her.
Emma blinked, and twin tears fell down her cheeks, but she made no effort to brush them away. Bringing her hand up, she cupped his cheek, and his shifted to hold her hand against his skin. He sighed, leaning into her touch. 'We should have had more time, Hook,' she whispered.
His hook came up to brush the hair back from her face, and the look he gave her was such adoration, such love, that she didn't know how she'd managed to keep him from taking over her before now. 'Please love,' he said, smiling sadly. 'Call me Killian.'
If only they'd had more time.
And she smiled back up him, just as sad, just as helpless, tears flowing unchecked down her cheeks. Something twisted inside of her, the ache of loss already eating at her heart, and she felt her lower lip trembling as she fought back a sob. 'I don't want to forget you, Killian,' she said, her voice breaking on his name, and then his arms were around her again, holding her to him, pressing them together until there was no space between them, but there must have been just a little because a smaller body was squeezing between them, arms going around her waist and she shifted her grip to hold onto Henry, one arm around his shoulders while the other wrapped around Killian's neck.
'This is it,' someone said from nearby but she didn't know who, didn't have enough to focus on anything but the two men in her arms, her son and the pirate who loved her, who she wish she'd realized sooner how much she loved.
She closed her eyes, not able to bear the thought of watching the green smoke taking them over. A hand cupped her face, firmly but gently, and she turned with it until she felt lips pressing against hers, and she kissed Killian back desperately. If they could only have one moment then this would be it, and if she didn't have the time to show him properly how much she loved him then she could only show him now. One hand remained on Henry's head, holding him against her, but the other tightened on the back of Killian's neck as she gave him everything she had, pouring all of her love and hurt and hope into that last moment. He kissed her back just as desperately, as if it could be enough, as if it would make up for everything that they both knew they couldn't have.
She felt a rush run through her and the world seemed to tremble or was that just her?
Emma broke the kiss, forcing her eyes open and was surprised to see that they weren't surrounded by a greenness like she'd thought they must have been. She looked around wildly, not loosening her grip on either Killian or Henry, but then Henry pulled away from her, the loss painful immediately.
'Mum? What happened?'
She forced herself to look around and was grateful that Killian's arms were still around her to support her.
The smoke was gone. The shadow was gone.
Her parents were gone. Regina, Neal, everybody.
'The curse spared us,' Killian said, his voice as thick and slow as she felt.
Henry looked between them, his eyes wide with horror, and her heart twisted at the knowledge that he'd lost just as much as he had just now. After a second though he surprised her, straightening his shoulders as he steeled himself. 'We're going to save them,' he said, his tone leaving no room for doubt. 'Operation Fairytale Rescue.'
Another mission, another rescue, another curse. She stared back at her son, feeling not even a shred of the confidence that he showed. Killian let go of her and moved to stand beside her son. 'We've yet to see you fail, love,' he reminded her quietly.
She stared at him, feeling so torn, looking down to Henry and then back at the pirate. They watched her with identical expressions of faith and trust but who was she, really, to know what to do with that?
Maybe it was time to let them show her.
'Operation Fairytale Rescue,' she repeated slowly, and Henry nodded at her. 'All right.' She looked around - thankfully the town had remained in place, including her car, which was parked at the curb not far away. 'Come on, then,' she said. 'We've got a curse to break.' And this time she wouldn't have to do it alone.
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