To whom it belongs
Captain Swan Short
Chapter 1
They were sitting by the fire in the forest, the stars barely shining overhead. Its heat radiated into the group's tense bodies; a sliver of warmth giving them some strength to get through the night. Mary Margaret and David sat opposite of Emma. David's right arm was wrapped around Snow's shoulder in an attempt to keep her and the baby warm. Despite their pleas she still had insisted on joining them to bring down the Wicked Witch. She insisted that as long as she had her bow, she and the baby would be safe.
It was only a few hours ago that Zelena came to see her younger sister. She had stormed into town hall with her troop of flying monkeys breaking everything in sight. She needed her to find the last ingredient for her curse. She would have done it herself had it not been spelled by Rumplestiltskin to prevent her from finding it. In a moment of clarity Rumple had given it to Belle to hide, not trusting himself while under Zelena's hold. Regina was the only one in town with power strong enough to locate the ingredient, the blood of the Yaoguai.
Regina had laughed then, louder than she had ever laughed. Why on earth would she help this witch? Regina had made it clear that nothing would make her help her but then Zelena told her of what awaits Henry if she refuses. Regina had turned pale as if all the life had been taken from her. Seeing this, the witch smirked.
"Now there's a good girl," she patronized before telling her what to do.
The Wicked Witch told Regina that she was only able to follow the magical trace of the ingredient to a cabin by the Toll Bridge where she had since made herself at home without anyone being the wiser. She called it her summer palace and by palace she actually meant palace and not some meagre fire hazard. She had made some changes to the cabin. Regina had told Emma that it had been expanded and then spelled to prevent anyone noticing this change in design. She had mumbled under her breath how big and loud was her thing and that the witch should really stop stealing her style.
After Zelena and her monkeys left, Regina came to her senses and told Emma that if they were to strike, they should do it now. Upon hearing of Regina's plan, Robin, who was seemingly everywhere she was all of a sudden, decided to accompany her. Much to everyone's surprise she agreed, claiming that a thief may just be what she needed to sneak around Zelena's residence to look for something to use against her.
Waiting there in the darkness of the woods, a few hours felt to Emma like days. It didn't help that Hook had been staring at her the whole time. Standing behind her now, he leaned against a tree with his arms crossed. His eyes never once left her, following every movement she made.
Emma couldn't handle it anymore and suddenly stood up. Sure, she admitted, it was nice to have someone who wasn't a monkey pay attention to her but she couldn't deal with this now. She wasn't even sure she could ever deal with it. All she wanted was to save Henry and go back home to New York.
"I'm getting antsy waiting around," she told the group, grabbing a flashlight from beside the fire. She hoped no one would see the real reason she was leaving so suddenly. She stole a glance at Hook who had then straightened up and placed his hand to his sword. No doubt her sudden movement had put him on alert.
"I'm going to loop around once to make sure the coast is clear," she continued, looking towards her parents, "and then we can make our move."
David started to move to go with her when Hook interrupted taking a step towards Emma, "Let me go with you, Swan. You never know what dangers may await you out there in the dark."
"I'm a big girl, Hook," she said curtly, "I can handle myself and besides," she added, pointing to her gun, "I won't be alone." With that she walked away and into the shadows of the forest, still feeling his eyes on her.