Title: Children of the light
Summary: Emma and the others have managed to save Henry with some help from the Fairy Queen and they all made it back to Storybrooke. Little they know the Neverland fairies have a really twisted sense of humour…and that Henry won't be the only child in the family for much longer.
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Once upon a time is property of ABC. Not mine. Sadly.
A lot of thanks to ymtwtmbeth for the beta work.
It took Emma and the others three months to find a clue once they arrived to Neverland.
Three months for a single, freaking clue. A clue, that almost got them killed by the mermaids. Who, they discovered, were incredibly good at keeping grudges against one-handed, blue-eyed pirates.
The next clue they managed to find, some weeks later, led them instead to Tiger Lily and her tribe. They discovered soon enough it was an attempt of The Lost Boys to get the blood-thirsty indigenes to kill the intruders without getting their hands dirty… or, dirtier than usual. However, Tiger Lily, the tribe princess, recognized in Emma a kindred soul so she decided to give her a chance to prove herself and save her companions in a fight to the death. Tiger Lily, being honourable and kind, gave Emma a month to train for the fight with the help of a warrior chosen by the princess herself.
A month was barely enough to learn how to use their fighting sticks, let alone be proficient with them, but Tiger Lily and her people had forgotten to consider one tiny detail when they proposed a trial-by-combat. After almost three months and no tangible clue about her son's whereabouts, Emma's tolerance for that hellish place and all of Neverland's inhabitants was now as low as her desperation to find Henry was high. A really bad combination, as the princess discovered during their fight.
Tiger Lily survived Emma's wrath – it was never Emma's intention to kill her, no matter what Regina and Gold shouted for her to do during the fight – and to protect her honour, the warrior princess offered to bring Emma and the others to the last known position of the Lost Boys' camp.
It almost seemed too good to be true, and as it often happens with that kind of things, it turned out to be just that.
The rage, the frustration and the pain of discovering the freshly abandoned camp was almost too much for everybody to bear. Emma fell on her knees, shaken, feeling the last shred of hope fading away. Regina, furious, let out a scream and threw a fire ball that incinerated a couple trees nearby. Snow and Charming stayed silent, the picture of sadness. Gold just stood where he was, his face unreadable. Hook simply took his flask out of his satchel and took a big gulp of rum, before walking next to Emma and offering the small bottle to the woman without a word. Emma got up, emptied the flask in one go, and with the face of someone just a second away from her breaking point she walked straight into the jungle before her parents could stop her.
The morning after Emma came back, retrieved by Hook. He had waited until everyone was asleep to leave their makeshift camp and go look for her. Even if there was no proof of what the couple did or didn't do that night, Snow had to keep Emma's overprotective and quite furious father as far from the pirate as humanly possible, or Hook would end up with much worse than a bruised jaw. As much as her maternal side didn't want to admit it, Emma and Hook really seemed to understand each other, and Emma seemed less desperate than she did, or what normally had become. This was a very good thing considering their situation was the same as five months earlier. So, as long as Emma stayed focused and in one piece, emotionally speaking, Snow was more than glad to ignore how her daughter achieved her piece of mind, along with the longing looks of the one that helped her achieving it.
And then a blonde-haired fairy named Tinkerbell made her appearance, much to Hook's relief. But when the fairy offered help and shelter from the Lost Boys, the group split into two factions. Hook and Regina, the ones that had already met Tinkerbell and thus were prone to trust her, and Snow, David and Gold, that didn't think wise to trust fairies outside of their world. Emma shocked both her parents – and Regina – by siding with the ones willing to trust Tink. Quickly arguing that if this place was dangerous for them… what damage would a child like Henry suffer? Maybe the hard path was more honourable, but she wanted her son back and to get the hell out of there as soon as possible. And if in order to do it she had to side with Regina, Hook and a Neverland fairy, well, Emma could live with that.
Gold, at that point, reminded the young woman that fairies, especially these ones, never did anything out of goodness of their hearts and that tricking people was what they did best. Unfortunately for him, neither Emma or Regina were interested in his unrequired advice or Snow's worries about the consequences of choosing the 'easy path', as she defined it. The two mothers said they could come with them to meet Queen Titania at the Fairy Queen's palace or stay there; they would with or without them.
It was a lost battle, and Snow and David were smart enough to recognize it. Gold merely shrugged; it was not his business. He gave them a warning, after all. That was their choice. And they'd have to pay the price for meddling with that kind of magic, sooner rather than later.
When the group was introduced to the dark-haired, violet-eyed beauty that was Queen Titania, Emma started wondering if maybe, just maybe, her decision to trust Tink was a bit too rushed. Everything was perfect in her palace. The light, the dresses, even the fruit and the flowers. So perfect, to the point of being disturbing. One giant, perfect lie, thought Emma, like everything in this damn island.
The Queen at that point had smiled and commented Emma's acute observation skills, even if Emma hadn't voiced a single thought. She also told her she had nothing to fear from her. Her desire to help them find the child was motivated by a simple reason: like every creature who could call themselves a native of the island, or even those who didn't like the Lost Boys, Queen Titania didn't want them or the Dark One there. Offering them on a silver plate the thing they wanted the most in exchange for the promise of never coming back seemed a fair deal to her. A deal even Rumplestilksin found reasonable.
Two days later, a small group of fairies left the Queen palace along with them. The Queen had chosen them personally among the best warriors at her disposal, and they worked, walked and acted like a well-oiled war machine. It took them a day to find the new camp, and another one to plan the attack and get Henry. And not just him, because Snow refused to leave the other children trapped in that place, alone and with the only option to become a member of Felix's little group of sociopaths.
If Queen Titania was annoyed by the outcome of that little expedition in the jungle, she didn't show it. Or maybe ridding herself of as many Lost Boys as possible was worth it to the Queen, this was confirmed when Emma saw the smirk that briefly shone through the Queen's cold face. Queen Titania didn't care for their destiny or their well-being, she just wanted them gone. Fine by her, shrugged Emma. As long as Henry was happy and safe in her arms, she was fine with everything, ever sharing his hugs and smiles with Regina.
A couple hours later, Tinkerbell let Emma and the others know that the following day they'd be escorted back to their ship so they could leave and make good on their promise, but that that night the Queen had given orders to prepare a feast in their honour, to celebrate their victory on the Shadow and the Lost Boys. She even laughed at Rumplestilskin's veiled comments on fairy food and how eating it could trap you in that palace forever. I want you gone, my dear guests, had been the Queen's reply. Eat and taste everything at my table, you'll be the only ones able to leave and tell the tale.
She was especially eager for Regina, Emma and Snow to taste an extremely rare, purple, slightly glowing fruit that tasted different according to the person holding it. They were already slightly drunk on fairy wine, and Henry was sound asleep next to Emma, so no one saw anything weird with the Queen offering said fruit only to the three women. They were leaving the following day and the Queen's intentions sounded sincere. Only Rumplestilskin, agreeing to disagree with the rest of his group, insisted on not tasting anything the fairies offered him.
That night, Emma went to Hook to remind him that whatever had happened between them in that place, it was unlikely to happen again once they would get back to Storybrooke. Then she let him drag her inside his room for what was meant to be their last time together.
A couple rooms away, Snow and Charming celebrated their family's reunion and their imminent return to Storybrooke the way a married couple very much in love usually does.
Next room, Regina spent the night having the weirdest dream ever, which she was more than glad to blame on the fairy food and the two idiots trying to conceive their second-born child one wall away from her. There was no other explanation for having, well, that type of dream. The weird part was not being able to discern her lover's face, because it kept changing. First it was Daniel. Then Graham. Sydney, for a brief second. Even King Leopold made an appearance, making sure to turn a weird but somehow pleasant dream into a vivid nightmare.
Regina woke up all of sudden and sat on her bed, breathing heavily and thanking God for the silence around her. She couldn't be happier they were heading home the following day; that truce had served its purpose and Regina was more than ready to go back hating the Charmings and planning new ways to get Henry back for good.
Their attempt at leaving the island, though, didn't go as unnoticed as they had hoped. The Shadow, the Lost Boys, the mermaids and pretty much everyone they'd managed to anger during their brief stay tried to kill them and to prevent Henry and the other children from leaving Neverland. The fairies did their best to help them board the Jolly Roger, but just an handful of them survived to see them leave, and Emma wasn't even sure they would make it back to Queen Titania's palace alive. They weren't in great shape either: Regina got almost drowned by a couple of mermaids, Snow and Charming were both wounded and Emma's head felt like exploding after a close encounter with Felix's bat, but luckily not the nails on the broad end. Good for her Gold made it there mostly unharmed, and he healed Emma's concussion and the wounds of the others with a flick of his wrist.
Hook shouted at Henry and the other children to go below deck and stay there, and without losing a second he threw the small sachet of fairy dust the Queen had given them into the ocean, praying it would open a portal like it did the last time he had tried to leave Neverland. At least this time he had an enchanted stolen compass to guide him to the right place, thought the pirate, steering the ship right into the maelstrom. The last thing he wanted was to jump from world to world the way he had to, before finding his way back to Storybrooke.
The portal let them out somewhere near Newfoundland, but the Jolly Roger lived up to her fame and brought them back to Storybrooke in no time.
The entire town rejoiced to see Snow, Emma, Charming and Henry back safe and sound. The other children were immediately taken to Mother Superior and the other nuns, that would care for them until they could find some families willing to take them in. No one showed any kind of joy when Gold appeared on the docks, but he immediately caught a glimpse of a familiar shade of blue in the crowd and a few seconds later Belle was in his arms, hugging the older man like her life depended on it. Without giving the cheering crowd another glance, Gold buried his face in Belle's hair and sighed, happy to pretend no one else was there but them.
Hook and Regina were the only ones left to watch the reunion without really be a part of it. At least until Hook met Emma's eyes, and got her silent invitation to join her small group of family and friends. Ruby proposed to go at Granny's to celebrate Henry's return in style, but as usual no one considered the idea of inviting her. Like she didn't risk her life to save her son, too. Regina was still drenched in salt water and smelled like codfish because two damn mermaids tried to kill her while she was making sure Henry would board the Jolly Roger safe and sound, for crying out loud. And to add insult to injury, even Hook got to be there. Everyone seemed to have forgotten his past sins, why couldn't do the same with her? But of course, because she was the Evil Queen, even when she actually didn't do anything evil at all for a change! What a bunch of ungrateful…
Regina did her best not to jump in surprise when Emma touched her forearm to get her attention.
And apparently, to repeat a question.
"Regina, are you coming, too?"
"O-Of course" replied Regina, feigning a calm she wasn't feeling. "But I think I'm going to change first. I can't go anywhere like this."
"OK. I'll see you at Granny's, then."
Regina nodded a little too quickly and watched Emma join Henry and her parents, and leave with them. Gold and Belle were nowhere to be seen – probably already back home by now.
Regina decided to follow their example and started walking in direction of her house. A second later though, she found herself leaning slightly to a streetlight for balance, feeling lightheaded and sick. A deep breath later, everything was gone, and Regina wondered what the hell had just happened.
Whatever, Regina said to herself after a few seconds, dismissing the slight sickness as a consequence of smelling like rotten fish. She needed to get home. The sooner she got there, the sooner she could have a hot shower, change into dry clothes, go to Granny's, detach Emma from Henry, claim her son for herself for at least an hour and God forbid, even spend a not dreadful evening with him and the rest of his ever-growing family. In that precise order.
Little she knew her troubles weren't over.
In fact, they were just about to begin.