Rating: G
Pairings/Characters: Emma/Gold
Warnings: None
Spoilers: Anything up to 1X12 is fair game
Disclaimer: If I owned them Gold and Emma would have been having sex long ago.
A/N: Based on kashira1786 prompt over at the Gold/Emma Live Journal community. She wanted to see Emma bringing ice cream back to Gold and some bonding and talking. It's short but I hope you will like it. Thank you for the awesome prompt! Please review but no flames.
Gold sat staring at the chipped tea cup, letting his memory go back to her. His hand shook slightly as he recalled how fearful and apologetic she had looked when she had dropped it. 'It's just a cup,' he remembered saying, almost snidely to her. Now, it meant much more to him.
He heard Emma walk towards his cell and without looking up said, "I hope you had a good time with Henry, despite how short it was."
"Here," she replied in a soft tone.
Gold finally looked up to see her holding two ice cream cones; chocolate and what looked like vanilla. He placed the cup on the bench and stood up. "You brought me back a cone," he said in amusement.
She held out the chocolate ice cream to him and smirked. "You looked like you needed it."
Gold took the cone from her, his fingers brushing lightly against her hand. "I see you got vanilla for yourself," he replied with a raised eyebrow. "I would have thought you were a tutti-frutti kind of girl."
She took a lick of her cone and rolled her eyes at him. "Actually, this is coconut."
He chuckled and sat back down, gently moving the cup to the side. Emma noticed his movements and sat on the arm of the couch.
"I don't remember you having that when I locked you in there," she said with a gesture.
Gold looked down at the cup. "Ah, yes. Our esteemed mayor dropped it off."
She frowned and narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Why would she give you a tea cup?"
"She knows it represents part of my past," he said in a quiet, tense voice.
"I'm guessing it's not a happy part of your past."
He looked up at her. "It was bitter sweet."
She regarded him thoughtfully. "Does it have something to do with the woman you won't talk about?"
"Yes," he offered simply. He looked back down, watching as the ice cream slowly melted and ran down the cone. "You probably think I'm a fool."
"Why would I think that?" Emma asked curiously.
Gold looked at her sharply. "Because I'm allowing this object to have such a ridiculous effect on me!" he spat out.
Emma stared at him, unflinching at his furious glare. "That cup is part of who you are," she said gently. "It is a part of your memories, good or bad. Of course it's going to have an effect on you." She paused and added, "That doesn't make you a fool Mr. Gold. It makes you human."
He turned his head away, not wanting to see the sympathetic look in her eyes.
Emma stood up, stepped closer to the cell, and leaned against it. "I still have my baby blanket," she told him, smiling when he turned to look at her again. "Every time I move it's the last thing I pack and the first thing I unpack. For me, it's my only link to my parents...to a home that I will never know. Sometimes it hurts to look at it and be reminded of what I never had, but I will never get rid of it. It helped shape who I am.
Gold looked down at the cup briefly and then looked back up at the genuine expression of compassion on her face. "Thank you for sharing that Ms. Swan," he said sincerely. "I know that must have been difficult for you."
"As scary as it may sound Gold, I think I understand you," she replied teasingly.
He looked at her with an intense gaze. "I think we understand one another."
Emma's breath hitched as his golden eyes blazed up at her. Her stomached flipped and she could feel a blush creep up on her cheeks. "Um," she began to say nervously as she stepped away from his cell, "I need to finish my report. You should eat your ice cream before it melts."
Gold watched as she walked back to her desk, licking the ice cream that had melted off of her fingers. The cup was part of his past. Perhaps ice cream could represent part of his future.