Waiting For You, Praying For You
Disclaimer: I own nothing here. I'm simply playing in this sandbox.
Summary: After Emma and Mary Margaret get sucked into the Enchanted Forest, a heart in Storybooke is slowly breaking. Swan Cricket.
This has been weighing on my mind since the season 2 premiere. Three words of warning, though – Papa. Bear. Archie. Well . . . that and TEAR-JERKER!
Well, that's enough of that. Let's get on with this. I hope you enjoy it.
Emma was gone.
Mary Margaret – Snow, his princess, he knew now, but not the one who held his heart – was gone as well, but that didn't matter as much to him. He cared about the princess, but not in the same way that he cared about Emma. Oh no, most certainly not. The delivery of the news that she was gone hit him worse than any other blow in the world did. No one knew where either one of them were and there was no way for certain to get them back, not without magic, the one thing that was eluding all of them.
Emma was gone and Archie couldn't get her back.
Archie had known that one, simple fact, with perfect clarity, the moment the wraith had been banished from this world, taking along one of the two most important things in his life along with it. Whether it was intuition, sheer dumb luck, or something else entirely, he just knew and that's what drove him out into the streets.
The sadness and tears were all too clear in Henry's eyes as the boy come running, full tilt, at him from down the street. That was all he had needed to know about what had happened and so Archie had done the only thing he could think to do at the sight of the love of his life's son, so obviously broken and in need of comfort.
He opened his arms to the boy. Henry was quick to enter his embrace, burying his face into Archie's chest, sobbing his eyes out. Gods, all Archie wanted to do was shatter, but he couldn't, not with Henry like this.
Charming – David – trailed behind Henry, regret and sadness on his face. The prince wanted to comfort his grandson, but he didn't know how. Archie saw the way that David reached for Henry, how he wanted to take Henry from his arms and comfort the boy himself. Seeing that only made Archie hold Henry tighter, fiercely protective of the boy that wasn't even his own flesh and blood.
Henry is Emma's son and Archie loves her – will always love, more than anything in any world – Emma. He loves her son too. And it was in that moment that he admitted, finally admitted, to himself that he loved Henry as his own child.
"Henry," Archie heard David say as the man reached them, "it's going to be okay."
"No, it's not," Henry replied, his voice muffled by Archie's sweater. "Emma and Mary Margaret are gone and she can't get them back."
There had been no question over who the "she" was.
Yet hearing Henry actually say those words stabbed at Archie's heart even more. He had to fight to keep from crying.
"It will be. I promise."
Archie knew that it could have been extremely dangerous to promise something like that but he had to have hope, for all of their sakes. He carefully rubbing Henry's back.
"Listen to your grandfather, Henry," he softly said. "He knows about this kind of thing."
Henry looked up at him wide eyed. "Do you believe it?" the boy asked, his voice quiet and weak, evident of the emotional turmoil just beneath the surface. "Do believe that Emma and Mary Margaret can come back?"
He nodded, releasing Henry enough to kneel down so that he was at eye-level with the boy. "Yeah, I do. I know your mother, Henry. She's a lot stronger and tougher than she looks." He ruffled Henry's hair. "Emma's going to find a way back because she has you to come back for and the love a mother has for her son is the strongest love there is."
A weak smile crossed Henry's face.
They both knew that was true. Emma had proved how strong a mother's love was not thirty-six hours prior.
"And you," Henry added quietly, some of his natural brightness and enthusiasm seeping back into his voice. "She'll come back for you too, Archie."
Archie gave him a quiet smile at that.
"She'll come back. She's got every reason to," he said with confidence and, in his heart of hearts, he knew that Henry was right about that as well. Whatever bond he and Emma had was strong, strong enough for him to feel when she was ripped away from this world, and he had to believe that she was going to fight tooth and nail to get back here. "Emma will come back to us, Henry. I know it."
David moved closer to them. Archie looked up at him and saw the prince that had always lived beneath the surface.
"Let's go home, Henry," the prince said. "We all need our rest, if we're going to get Emma and Snow back."
Henry looked up at his grandfather.
"Can't I go home with Archie?" he asked, almost innocently.
David floundered at that, clearly indecisive about answering that. On one hand, the man knew that Emma and Archie were together and that it was getting pretty serious, but, on the other hand, he obviously didn't want his only connection left to his wife and daughter out of his sight. More than that, he was a father and Archie was dating his daughter.
"I don't know if that's a good idea, Henry," Archie said, drawing Henry's attention back to him. "Your grandfather is a better fighter than I am and he can protect you, far better than I ever could."
Henry shook his head.
"But Emma trusts you, Archie," he defended. Henry glanced between his father figure and his biological grandfather. "You're the one person in this whole town I know that Emma could always count on. I don't want to go with anyone else, Archie." Henry's lip wobbled and Archie wrapped him up into another hug. "I want to go home with you, Archie. You're the closest thing I have to a dad and I don't want to lose you too."
"I don't want to lose you either, Henry," Archie whispered back. He looked over Henry's should and up at David – Charming. The prince gave Archie a sympathetic look, though Archie saw the steel in his eyes, steel that remind the former cricket so much of Emma. "Maybe, just for right now, we can go home and decide tomorrow how to handle everything. Is that okay, Henry?"
Henry pulled back and wiped his eyes. He nodded, albeit quite sadly.
"Okay."
"So, we're going to your house?" David asked, slowly.
Archie smiled wanly. "That is the place that Emma considers her home here." He drew a deep breath. "Look, Your Majesty, David, I know that Mary Margaret's apartment would be most comfortable for you, but that wasn't where Emma lived. Right now, we have to consider the fact that Henry just lost his mother and doesn't know when she's going to come back. Maybe being in a place that she considers home would make Henry more comfortable."
Then, and only then, did David nod, understanding Archie's point.
"Yeah, sounds good." The prince paused and Archie knew he wanted to ask something. He raised an eyebrow, prompting David. "Is it alright if I crash with you tonight? I can't bear to be back in Snow's apartment when it's all empty and alone."
"That's fair."
With that, the three began the slow journey back to the house that Archie and Emma lived in. Once there, Pongo bounded to the door to greet them, barking loudly and happily, aware in that doggy way that his special brand of comfort was needed. Henry greeted the dog with renewed energy as David and Archie followed him inside.
In retrospect, it was entirely weird to have the son and father of his girlfriend crashing in his house, particularly when said girlfriend was trapped in who-knows-where, but Archie managed to put aside those feelings, at least for the time being. Instead, he busied himself by preparing a quick and dirty meal for the three of them, followed by hot chocolate (with sticks of cinnamon in them). Henry gave a bright smile when Archie handed him that mug of hot chocolate, showing the young boy he really was.
Later, after a while of awkward conversation, Henry finally fell asleep in the spare bedroom and Archie managed to find a few blankets for David, who opted to kip on couch, down in the living room.
When Archie came walking back into the living, blankets in hand, David gave him a steady look. He paused and realized that this was the first time that he was alone with Emma's father (when they knew that he was Emma's father).
"Do you love my daughter?" David asked, point blank, the moment that Archie walked back into the room.
That startled him, but after a moment, Archie smiled. He nodded. "With everything that I am."
"Good." David sat down on the couch. Archie felt a wave of memories wash over him – so many memories with Emma took place in this house and not all of them were fit for conversation with her father. "I'm sorry I couldn't stop this from happening, Archie. I couldn't save them, not this time."
That made Archie pause. He arched an eyebrow at David for not the first time that evening.
"You don't have to apologize for not being able to stop her from jumping head-first into danger, especially if it involves protecting someone she loves. That's who Emma is. She's a protector." Archie put the blankets down on the coffee table and sat down next to the prince. "She's a lot more like you than you might think."
David looked over at him.
"I wish I had the time to get to know her, not as David Nolan, but as her father," he admitted. "We've spent twenty-eight years apart, not remembering her. Then, the moment we remember, Emma and Snow are ripped away."
Archie mused for a moment, trying to find the right thing to say.
"I know Emma, David," he finally said. "She's going to find a way back, even if it's the last thing she does." He gave a deprecating laugh. "I hope it's not the last thing she does because I don't know what I would do if I didn't have her in my life." Archie frowned. Further realization dawned on him. He ran a hand through his hair. Sadness washed over him and tears stung at his eyes. "Gods, I'm going to have to figure that one out now. She's gone – really gone."
"They are coming back," David said gently, putting a hand on Archie's shoulder. "We both know that." Archie looked up at him. Their eyes met. "I love Snow more than anything else and I can tell how much Emma means to you. And, if Emma is anything like Snow and me, she'll get back here and then nothing will be wrong."
That made Archie smile a bit.
"Yeah," he agreed, praying to whatever God was out there that Emma would come home again, "they will."
But, later, when Archie tiredly climbed the steps, changed into his pajamas, and crawled into bed, the loss of Emma still hit him hard.
He reached out and found Emma's pillows, bringing it closer to him. Emma's smell still lingered there. Archie inhaled deeply, remembering all of the nights that they had spent, lying on this bed, holding each other, sharing secrets, laughing with one another. There were so many memories of her here. He could remember all of the nights that resulted in them holding each other close, limbs intertwined, hands clasped tightly. Even if they had had bad days, he always felt safe with her, as they lay together in their bed.
Archie took another deep breath and pulled Emma's pillow tight against his chest. Tears welled up in his eyes and, alone, he cried.
"Please," he whispered to no one, "Emma, come home to me. I need you."
And that, as they say, is that.
I hope that you like this story. It's sad, I know, but it's been on my mind since the beginning of the season and I needed to share it with all of you.
Please review and let me know what you think of this.