A/N: Thank you guys so much for your sweet reviews on the first Jemma oneshot I uploaded! :D I love you all! I hope you enjoy this one, too. I started it on Sunday and there's a line toward the end for which I drew a bit of inspiration from the promo about this week's episodes of Every Witch Way. This fic shares some similarities with my other fic but it's also different and longer. This takes place the night of the babysitting disaster in "No Can Do" (pretend that whole Siberia thing didn't happen). If I get flamed, I almost guarantee it will be for this fic and you'll see why. XD So don't read it if you don't like the pairing! You've been warned. Please just abide by the warning and don't flame me. To all my fellow Jemma shippers: major feels ahead. Title is lyrics from National Anthem by Lana Del Rey. Happy reading! :D
Emma Alonso sat on her back porch glider, hugging her knees to her chest. It was nighttime and the Fool Moon was up. But it wasn't doing anything to her right now; she was just sitting in the quiet darkness, thinking. Her heart had been beating overtime ever since that afternoon when Jax had helped her find the T3, Hamster Edition.
No matter how hard she tried, she could not shake Jax's words from her head: You think I can't beat Daniel without using magic and that's not true. He beat me by an eighth of a second and next time I'll win. I always win in the end. You'll see.
Yes, they had been talking about swimming when he said this, but from the way he'd looked at her, his words had an entirely different meaning. And at the time, sure, they'd made her heart flutter a little, but he was still Jax Novoa the Trouble Maker so she'd dismissed them rather quickly. But then this afternoon happened, and…
She knew Jax disapproved of her relationship with Daniel. Jax thought it was insane Emma was risking The Witches' Council taking her powers over her dating a human. Daniel wasn't "one of them" so Jax rationalized Emma couldn't be going to him for help with magic problems. And then of course there was the fact that she was preeetty sure Jax had a thing for her. And yet he'd helped her save her relationship today. He'd helped her keep her secret from Daniel and… he really did look cute in those pajamas…
Emma leaned her head back and groaned as her heart inevitably leapt at the mental image. What was she thinking? She and Jax were too different. Sure, he'd proven that he knew how to be nice, but he was still a bad boy. Not to mention Emma had a boyfriend! Though… lately, she wasn't so sure her relationship with Daniel was working.
She wouldn't admit it out loud, but she'd been wondering for a while. She lied to him consistently and they hardly ever saw each other for more than two seconds at a time. Plus, he didn't approve of her being a witch. In fact, he hated that she was a witch. But… maybe that was okay. Her mom had given up her powers for her dad, after all; Emma could do the same for Daniel if she had to. She had no other connection to her mother and she was desperate to have one. Not to mention she'd gone against The Witches' Council to be with Daniel; she couldn't back down now… right?
Just then Francisco pushed open the back door, humming to himself. He was carrying two big trash bags and seemed to be in a pleasant mood. When he spotted his daughter, he shrieked. She shrieked back out of reflex. "Emma! You scared me."
"Sorry," she said quietly. She suddenly felt exhausted, like she needed to take a nap for a few hundred years. But she didn't have the energy to walk and she couldn't transport to her room with her dad standing there—or without him standing there; she would end up in the pool if she tried—so she settled for lying back on the glider and covering her eyes with her hands.
"Everything okay?" Francisco asked as he descended the porch steps and placed the bags in the trash can. He was using his Concerned Dad voice. He didn't use it very often, but when he did it meant something was wrong.
"Yeah. Great." But then Emma felt a pang of guilt in her chest, the same pang she kept getting each time she lied to Daniel, and she couldn't do it. She couldn't keep lying all the time and live with herself. She sat up. "Actually… no."
Her dad returned to the porch and took a seat next to his daughter. "What's going on, kiddo? You and Andi have a fight?"
"I wish." Her fights with Andi never lasted more than a few minutes, excluding last year's Panther disaster.
"This wouldn't have to do with…" Francisco's eyes narrowed. "Mr. Miller, would it?"
Emma bit her lip. "Maybe."
"What did that boy do now? Did he hurt my daughter? Because if he did, he'll be signing up for cheerleading next!"
Emma stifled a laugh at the thought of Daniel in a cheerleading uniform, even though that wasn't something she normally would have found funny. But… Jax would have.
"What was Mom like?" she blurted before she had time to stop herself.
Her father blinked, clearly thrown off by the question. And then his face softened and he got that faraway look in his eyes he always got when he talked about his late wife. "I've told you about her plenty of times before, Em."
"I know, but…" Her heart felt like it was in her mouth and she had the sudden urge to cry. "It's just… I have this sort of… situation… going on and I… I'm not sure what to do about it."
"Where does your mother come in at?"
"I just—" She stared at her hands. "I just don't want to disappoint her with my decision."
"You know, this would be much easier if you told me what the situation is," Francisco said with a small smile.
Emma couldn't take anymore; she broke down in tears.
Her father was immediately horrified. "Oh no no no, Emmy, don't cry." He pulled her into a hug and she latched onto him, tight. "Hey, it's okay. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
"That's just it," she sobbed into his shoulder. "I want to tell you. A-And I want to tell…" She squeezed her eyes shut. "Someone else… but I can't."
"Why not?"
She shook her head.
"Emmy." Her father took her face in his hands. "Hey. Emma. Look at me. Why can't you?"
"W-Well, I can't tell you because it's a secret. A-And I can't tell the other person because I've been lying to him about it for months and he'll hate me if he finds out now."
To her surprise, her dad laughed. At first softly, and then harder. He shook his head and grinned. "My…"
"Wh-What?" she asked, blood starting to boil. "What's so funny?"
"Nothing. It's just that… you are so much like your mother."
Emma's heart finally chilled out—in a major way. She was pretty sure it stopped. "I am?" she whispered.
"Mmm-hmm. I never told you this—and maybe you won't believe me—but…" His eyes scanned their back yard, the fence that led to their neighbor's house, the apple trees, as if the right words lay somewhere in nature. "A few days after I proposed, your mother told me she was a witch."
Emma opened her mouth to respond but there was literally nothing she could say back to that. "Really?" she asked, the surprise in her voice one hundred percent real for different reasons than her dad would have thought.
"Mmm-hmm. And she was terrified I'd hate her for keeping it a secret from me for so long. I didn't, of course. If I would have, I definitely wouldn't have been worth her giving up her powers."
"Giving up her powers?" she asked in what she hoped sounded like a surprised tone.
"Yep. See, she told me there was this jury called The Witches' Council that had been threatening to take her powers ever since we started dating. Something about witches weren't allowed to date humans. They finally laid down the law when they heard about our engagement—it was me or her powers."
This conversation wasn't happening. It couldn't be. How come Desdemona had never told her that her mother told her father?!
"Wow…" was all Emma could say. "How did… um. How did you respond?"
"Well, it was a pretty crazy thing for her to say. But I loved her, so… I believed her. To this day, I believe her. I've never understood it, but your mother never would have lied to me about something so huge."
Uh-oh. Sinking feeling time. "She wouldn't have?"
Francisco looked at her with wide eyes. "Of course not! A relationship has to be based on trust, Emma. Everyone knows that."
"Oh…"
"But anyway, I asked her what she was going to do. She said give up her powers and marry me. So naturally I told her she was insane."
Emma's jaw dropped. "You did not!"
"I sure did."
"Dad! Why would you say that?"
"Because from what she told me, having magic was important to her. I wanted her to be happy."
"But… wasn't it more important to you that you two be happy together?"
"Emma," he said, placing an arm around her shoulders. "I loved your mother very much. And it was my biggest dream to be with her until the day I died. But I loved her too much to ask her to give up who she was for me."
Emma's heart was working again, but it wasn't exactly beating. It was more like it was… buzzing. "So… you let her choose?"
He nodded. "I let her choose. And I made sure she knew that no matter her decision, I wouldn't love her any less. And you know what? She chose me."
"Was that your plan all along?"
He barked out a laugh. "Of course not! I thought she was calling off the engagement when she told me about this Witches' Council. And then when she said she was going to choose me, well, I wanted her to know I wasn't asking her to do that. And…" He shrugged and looked up at the sky. "I was blessed for my selflessness."
"That… Dad." Emma had fresh tears brimming in her eyes, but these tears were for new reasons.
"Oh no. No, Emmy, no more crying. I didn't mean to upset you—"
"Dad!" she said through choked up laughter. "I'm not crying because I'm sad. I'm crying because… that's the most beautiful story I've ever heard in my life. Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
He shrugged sheepishly. "I didn't know how you'd react. Your mother was so afraid to tell me because she didn't know how I'd react, and… I guess I took on her fear."
"Wow…" Emma swallowed the lump growing in her throat and squeaked, "Dad?"
"Yes?"
"I wish Mom was still here."
Francisco hugged his daughter again and said, "I know, Emmy. I know. I do, too."
"I just…" She groaned with frustration. "I just have no connection to her at all, and I… I thought maybe I was making one, but now that you told me that story… maybe I was wrong."
His eyebrows crinkled. "I still can't help if I don't know what we're talking about."
Emma couldn't help but laugh. "You did help, Dad. I'm still confused, but… you definitely helped."
"I'm glad." He stood up. "Well, I better get inside. Kimmel's on soon and I—"
"Do you believe in the saying 'Opposites attract'?" Emma blurted again. "Like, not witch and human opposites, but… personality opposites?"
"Absolutely," Francisco said without missing a beat.
Emma's heart leapt again but this time she didn't feel guilty about it. "Really?" she said breathlessly. "And… Mom? Do you think she'd agree?"
"I know she would. Because we were opposites."
Emma blinked. "Y… You were?"
"Mmmm-hmmmmm."
"But… No you weren't! You said you and Mom met in a college math class because you were both math majors."
"Yes, I did say that…"
"Well… what, were you lying?"
"Noooo…" He was clearly uncomfortable with this topic but Emma didn't understand why. "I just… didn't exactly tell you the context of our meeting." He laughed nervously. "You see… you may find this hard to believe, but… back in the day, your old man was a rebel."
A laugh bubbled up in Emma's throat and she quickly bit her lip to prevent it from escaping. "Really?" she managed to say without losing it.
"Mmmmm-hmmmm," he said again, staring off into the distance, the hint of a nostalgic smirk appearing on his face. "I did what I wanted when I wanted and no one could stop me. Not to mention I was quite popular with the ladies. In fact, within my first three weeks on campus, I'd earned the nickname Francisco the Flirt."
Emma clamped her hands over her mouth and silently laughed so hard her shoulders shook. Her dad, the math major, the high school principal… a bad boy and a flirt? The mere thought was too funny for her to even begin to fathom. "Interesting."
"I had three new girls giving me their numbers every day. They swooned when I so much as glanced in their direction. And then, when I'd break out The Grin, they—" He stopped when he realized Emma was on the porch floor, doubled over with laughter. "Hey, now, it's not that hard to believe!"
Yes it is! Emma silently protested. But she couldn't have said it out loud if she wanted to; she was laughing so hard her sides hurt. After all of the stress she'd been under lately, it felt so good to laugh again. She kept at it for at least another minute.
"Are you done?" Francisco asked flatly.
"Yeah, yeah I'm done," Emma gasped, bringing herself to her feet and returning to her spot on the glider. She wiped a tear from her cheek and tried to catch her breath. "Sorry, go on."
He gave his daughter the side-eye. "Anyway… I knew how to get anything I wanted—free food, extensions on assignments, girls… All I had to do was turn on the charm and BAM! My wish was everyone's command." And then his cocky demeanor faded and was replaced with a soft, sweet smile. "Until your mother came along, that is."
"You weren't able to charm Mom?"
Francisco chuckled. "No, Em, I most definitely was not able to charm Mom. She'd heard about my reputation and when I tried to hit on her one day in math class, she burned me in front of all my friends."
Emma gasped. "She did not!"
"Oh, but she did. Had it been anyone else, I would have been peeved. But your mother…" He shook his head and happiness was written all over his face. It made Emma's stomach warm. "Your mother was something else. I wanted so badly for her to like me, and at first I thought it was because she was a challenge. No one turned down Francisco the Flirt's advances and I wanted Maria to see the error of her ways. But the more I got to know her… the more I realized the reason I was attracted to her ran so much deeper than a challenge. I was so strongly attracted to her because I was in love with her."
Emma brought her hands to her heart. "Aww, Dad…"
"She wasn't impressed by the little tricks of mine that impressed everyone else. She was strong-willed and confident and beautiful. She made you work for her approval and she didn't give you it until you earned it."
"So how long did it take you to earn it?"
"Six months. And in those six months, I don't think I so much as glanced at another girl on campus. Because they were all… not Maria Castillo. Needless to say, I lost my title. My buddy Lucas took over; they called him Lucas the Ladies' Man." He shrugged. "I was still a rebel, though! I was definitely still a rebel. The difference was I was a rebel with eyes for one girl only. And even though your mother was the campus-renown 'good girl,' I taught her how to have a little fun every now and then. We balanced each other out—made each other better versions of ourselves."
"I wish you'd told me this stuff before," Emma said, feeling lightheaded. That story made her feel so good inside, she found it hard to believe this was real life. All these years she'd assumed her parents had a nerdy little math lovers love story, with the super sweet aspect of her mom giving up her powers for her dad without him knowing. But now… now she knew their love story was so romantic, so beautiful it was practically a fairytale. "Thank you for telling me, Dad. Thank you so much."
"You're very welcome, Em. So, that's my answer to your question. That is why I know opposites attract and that is why I know your mother would agree."
"Oh, right. I completely forgot I even asked you tha—"
Wait.
Suddenly, all the chains that had been constricting Emma for what felt like forever broke and fell to the ground. "Oh. My. Gosh."
"What is it?" Francisco asked.
"Dad!" She sprung to her feet and gave her father a big hug. "You just fixed my problem!"
"I did? I mean…" He cleared his throat. "Of course I did."
"I have to go," she said, running at top speed down the porch steps and around the house.
"Wait! Emma! Where are you going? It's late!"
"To break up with Daniel!" she called over her shoulder without stopping.
Francisco mouth dropped and his eyes lit up with glee. "WOOHOO!" He then proceeded to have an impromptu dance session on his back porch.
Emma hyper-knocked on the Millers' front door, bouncing on her toes. She had a feeling the Fool Moon was heightening her already-present excitement, so this was sure to be interesting. When Mrs. Miller answered the door and said hello, Emma didn't even say hello back. She pushed past her, flew up the stairs, and threw open Daniel's door without knocking. Luckily, he was just lounging out playing video games. He jumped when the door opened then smiled when he saw who was there. "Oh, hey, Em—"
"I'm breaking up with you!" she exclaimed with the world's biggest grin on her face.
Daniel's froze.
When he didn't respond, she asked, "Did you hear me?" She was still bouncing on her toes.
Daniel took a moment to process what had just happened. Then he hit the pause button on his controller and stood from his beanbag chair. "You're what?"
"IIIII'm. Breaaaaking. Uuuuup. Wiiiiith. Yooooou." She squealed and clapped her hands like a little girl who'd just received a giant princess castle playhouse for Christmas.
He blinked. "Um, I don't what I want the answer to first: why you're breaking up with me or why you're unable to contain your joy about breaking up with me."
"Awwwww, Daniel." Emma pouted. "Have I offended you? Are you wondering if who you are isn't good enough for me?"
"I don't understand what you're—"
"My powers are back," she said with a relish.
"You're powers are—"
"Ask me how long they've been back for."
"How long—"
"The day after Maddie and I defeated the principal."
Daniel's eyes popped out of his head. "What?! Emma, that was last year!"
Emma cackled. "Yep."
"You've been lying to me for…" He started counting on his fingers but before he could finish, Emma jumped in front of him, held up four fingers, and waved them around in his face. "Four. Months."
"And you're proud of that?" Daniel asked, clearly steamed.
"No. I'm ashamed of that. I'm ashamed that I let you make me feel like I had to hide who I was to be loved."
"I never said that! Emma, I didn't want you to have your powers back because I didn't want you to be in danger. You know that."
"And because they freak you out, right? Witches freak you out? I freak you out?"
"Em—"
"You know my mom was a witch, too? So I guess she'd freak you out?"
"I never even—"
"DANIEL MILLER IS FREAKED OUT BY WITCHES, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! HE THINKS THEY'RE FREAKS!"
"Okay, fine, Emma!" Daniel shouted, face red with anger. "Yes! Yes, witches freak me out! Excuuuse me!"
"No; excuse me. Excuse me for thinking for even a second that someone who doesn't accept me for who I am is someone who deserves to be in a relationship with me."
Daniel swallowed hard. "Get out of my house."
Emma smiled. "Gladly."
"And don't come back."
"Wasn't going to!" she called over her shoulder, pulling the door shut on her way out. When she was halfway down the stairs, she heard Daniel throw something at the door. Good for him.
"Emma, what just happened?" Mrs. Miller demanded when she reached the bottom of the stairs. The T3 were in bed so the house had actually been peaceful until just a few moments ago. "Did you and Daniel have a fight?"
"Ask him," she said breezily as she walked through the front door. "Oh, and call Suzanne from South Boulevard the next time you need a babysitter. I hear she's wonderful."
"You're not my babysitter anymore?"
"Welllll, considering I just dumped your son, I'm gonna go with no."
Mrs. Miller's eyes widened. "You broke up with—"
"WOOHOO!" Across the road, Francisco was running laps around the Alonsos' house and jumping for joy.
"Is that your—?"
"Byeeeee!" Emma gave her a little wave and swung the door shut. She pretended not to hear when Mrs. Miller called after her. She wouldn't have turned back for all the money in the world. She started running toward the next town over when she got an idea so brilliant she literally screamed.
She stopped where she was and glanced up at the sky. "Come on, just one more favor tonight. Please." She glanced around to make sure the coast was clear then closed her eyes and took a deep, steadying breath. "Okay…
"I'm off the walls with excitement,
I've been released from my tomb;
Don't feel like running,
Take me to Jax's room!"
"Whoa!"
The second Emma heard Jax's adorable Australian accent, her eyes flew open and she pumped her fists in the air. "YES!"
Jax was still wearing his super cute pajamas from earlier. He had been lying down on his bed, watching TV, but now he was sitting up, alarmed. "Emma?"
She ran across the room and threw her arms around him. "I did it! I did it! I transported to the right place and not the pool!"
Jax hugged her back and laughed. "Congrats but what are you doing here?"
"I broke up with Daniel!" Pure joy was radiating off of her entire being and she felt a new type of energy flowing through her veins. Something about being this close to Jax Novoa while she was this happy and the Fool Moon was up…
An ecstatic grin lit up Jax's face. "That's awesome!"
"I know! I'm so happy!"
"You should be! He didn't deserve you."
"Trust me—I know."
The two paused in that way two only do before a major moment happens and then at the same time they leaned in toward each other and kissed.
If this new energy had been bubbling up inside of Emma before, it was bubbling over now. She felt like she'd literally become electricity, like nothing could bring her down ever again.
When the two pulled apart, Jax's expression told Emma he felt the same way. Maybe that was because… they'd become electricity together.
"Jax…"
"Yes?"
Emma opened her mouth but instead of talking, she laughed then threw her head back and roared with laughter.
"What is it?" he asked, still grinning from ear to ear. Seeing Emma Alonso this off-the-walls absolutely made his day.
"It's just… for the first time in my life, I feel free. And it feels really, really good!"
"That's great, Emma, but why the sudden change?"
She bit back a smile. "My dad told me a story… and it made me realize that I don't have to give up my heart's desire to have a connection to my mom. In fact… being with my heart's desire is my connection to my mom."
"When you say your heart's desire…"
"I'm talking about you."
Jax glanced around his room. "Is this really happening?"
"Yes! Why so surprised? You were right."
"I'm right about a lot of things. Be more specific."
"You always win in the end."
He smirked. "Remembered that, did you?"
"It's all I thought about all night."
Now it was his turn to roar with laughter. "Come here."
The two kissed again and again they felt that electric energy. Emma was on top of the world. This is what it felt like to have no chains. This is what it felt like to be enough for someone. This is what it felt like to be with someone who made her a better version of herself, just as she made him a better version of himself. This is what it felt like to be with her soul mate.
This must have been how her mom had felt with her dad.
And that was beautiful.