Hey readers!
Many of you have been asking for a sequel to Red Rebellion and I finally got the opportunity to sit down and start it. (If you have not read Red Rebellion, I'd recommend it for a better grasp on relationship dynamics but it's not necessary to understanding this plot.) I have a ton of plans for this story and am excited to get back to writing! Classes have been somewhat crazy so far into the semester but I promise to do my absolute best to be faithful and get the updates published when I can. This is just the prelude to the story, so don't fret, there is obviously a ton of Lizzipan (and Captain Swan) goodness ahead. I hope you all enjoy it!
The aroma of freshly baked red velvet cake infiltrated the kitchen, which was buzzing alive with excited house workers and chefs eagerly preparing for their young lady's fifth birthday upstairs. Emma walked in, barely causing a stir in the fervent activity in search of the wrapping paper she had to hide downstairs from her daughter. She smiled warmly at the older chefs that bickered over the frosting colors. Though of course Emma could have given her two sense in everything, at that point, she didn't have the energy or heart to interrupt the people at work.
She laid out the wrapping paper over a table in the corner away from the action and placed Elizabeth's new wooden sword over the bottom layer. The silver paint that decorated the faux blade of the toy sword shined under the light in the pantry, giving Emma a sense of excitement for her daughter. The plastic inlaid crystals that were glued to the handle looked real enough for a smile to creep up Emma's lip.
Though at first she protested against giving her daughter a sword, even if it was a wooden toy, there was no sense in denying Killian the pleasure of teaching his daughter how to sword fight for another year. If he wanted to tame the rascal, by all means. Emma had decided to surrender and leave that task up to him, for now at least. When Lizzie was a bit older, she was to learn all sorts of methods on hand-to-hand self-defense Emma picked up as a bail bonds person. "Swan-style" combat, as Killian fondly termed it.
Snow wandered down the stairs with a peering gaze. Emma ungracefully waved her over before turning her attention back to finishing getting the toy wrapped.
"You're giving in, huh?" Snow grinned.
"Toy sword or no toy sword, Lizzie will find ways to cause trouble. At least with this, she'll have her Dad trailing her heels when it happens."
The two mothers chuckled while Emma added the final touches. A plump old kitchen maid stomped into the panty from outside the back courtyard drenched by rain. She exasperatedly threw up her hands to shake off the dribbles running down her arm. Snow frowned, "You don't think that the kids would still be outside, do you?"
Emma looked up at the window to find fast running streams of rainwater trickling down the glass pane. They could just barely make out the sound of the pattering shower from the open door to the courtyard.
They both sighed with dropped shoulders and hurried upstairs to confirm what they hoped wouldn't be true.
Emma and Snow hurried into the cozy living room to find Ariel and Aurora relaxing on a nearby leather couch with their daughters sitting by their feet. Madeline and Rose looked up at Emma with curiosity while their mothers continued to braid their hair.
"Is something the matter?" Aurora frowned when noticing Emma's blatant concern.
"You haven't seen Elizabeth and James, have you?" Snow looked around the room in case they were grouped in a corner off to the side.
Ariel looked down at her daughter for confirmation. Maddie looked back up over her shoulder at her mother before turning to Snow. "They're still outside," she shyly answered in a light voice. Ariel rested her completed braid down by her shoulder; Maddie's dark auburn hair glossed under the sunlight leaking in from the window. Rose bounced on her heels eagerly as Aurora completed her braid as well, resting the light brunette twist down over her daughter's back.
"Not to worry," Rumplestiltskin spoke from the doorway. "I sent Neal out to fetch the boys to bring them in." He hobbled in through the doorway and made his way to the nearest plush recliner.
Emma crossed her arms, "Did it even occur to you that Neal wouldn't be able to catch all of them on his own?"
"He didn't," David spoke with an exhaustive smile from the doorway to the foyer. Standing at his side was his six year old son, James. A considerably large puddle had formed where the two boys stood in the hallway; they were both drenched from the storm. "We'll be down soon. I just have to get this guy into a new set of clothes for the party." Peaking out from beneath his wet, shaggy dark hair that stuck to his forehead, James's nose shriveled at the thought of putting on yet another pair of stiff dress pants.
It was then that Neal walked into the doorway behind where David and James stood. Hunched over, he had both hands on either side of his younger brother's shoulders to herd him through the door. "C'mon," they heard Neal grumble lightly down at Adam. The little boy looked up over his shoulder as they began to climb the steps of the staircase, "... but I can't just let her win!" Rumplestiltskin grinned to himself, having not seen both of his sons enter the hall behind him, just the mere sounds of their voices gave him a great sense of happiness.
Emma took a few steps over to the open doorway. "Neal, where's Lizzie?"
He blinked and looked down at David, who shared the same look of amusement."She, uh, she's still outside. I couldn't catch her."
Emma dropped her shoulders in defeat as she reached for her rain coat hanging on a rack in the foyer. Before she could shrug the jacket on, the doorway opened a third time.
At first, it looked like a shapeless walking mass of dark mud. Only when the figure turned around and dragged an arm over his face did Emma recognize Killian's piercing blue eyes through the layer of muck covering him head-to-toe.
A small arm, similarly covered in wet mud, raised up over Killian's shoulder and beat against the back of his legs. "Daddy!" A light voice belonging to none other than Elizabeth Swan herself squeaked out in a giggling protest. With a bemused grin, Killian calmly trudged a track of mud across the foyer towards the stairwell with his daughter playfully thrown over his shoulder. Emma flashed him a grateful smile without giving into the urge to laugh at his ridiculousness.
Neal gripped Adam's shoulders when he let the muddied father and daughter pass, keeping his young brother from initiating another challenge out of the birthday girl.
She looked down at the dark blue cursive iced along the face of the birthday cake: Happy 18th Birthday Elizabeth!
Eighteen years. The concept of time gave Emma an unsettled feeling in his gut. How has it already been eighteen years since Lizzie was born? It felt like just yesterday when she held her baby girl in her arms after seven long hours of labor. Hell, she still held on to the vivid memories from even before then. It had been just over twenty years since she pulled that plank of wood off of Killian Captain Hook 'the blacksmith' Jones in the Enchanted Forest. Emma smoothed her thumb over the inside of her palm where the scar still remained from her rum-tended gash. A smile crept up her cheek at the fond memories that were slowly coming back to her; eleven-year-old Henry standing at her apartment door in Boston, coming face-to-face with Snow and David after being immersed in Rumplestiltskin's purple smog, beating Killian (well, Hook at the time) at Lake Nostos, her first leap of faith with Killian in Neverland, the first time she felt Elizabeth kick...
Despite the spent years, Emma didn't feel all that different. Sure, she wasn't about to go climb another beanstalk, but for someone who was starting to get up there in years she felt good.
Two arms wrapped around her torso unexpectedly. Emma recognized the strong salty scent of the sea and old parchment from behind. She turned in Killian's arms. "Looking for something, Captain?"
"Aye. Well, I suppose I was," he mumbled with a lazy grin as he already leaned in for a kiss. Emma smiled against his lips as her hands naturally found the back of his neck. She pulled away just a short distance to let her forehead rest on his. "How has it been eighteen years?" She muttered breathily. "Do you feel old?"
"Time's escaped us," Killian answered. "That said, it has surely been the greatest span of time my life can account for."
"Yeah," she smiled nostalgically, "at least it was time well spent."
"Not to mention it's about bloody time I start to feel my age," he grumbled lightheartedly with a cheeky grin.
Elizabeth peered out against the searing rays of setting daylight. Her iridescent blue eyes reflected the orange glow of the waning evening sky. She remained propped up on her elbows, which sank deeper into the soft white sand. She stared ahead into the blinding horizon that left colored reflections over the ripples of the bay.
"Lizzie?" Maddie questioned her transfixed gaze. Lying comfortably on the sand, Maddie's long dark auburn hair spread out over her towel. Her eyes, similar to Elizabeth's, reflected pigments of oceanic blue. Though she didn't inherit her mother Ariel's genetic physique of a mermaid, it was clear to anyone who knew Maddie that the beach was her element. Elizabeth sighed and pulled her sharp glare away from the reddening setting sun. "Is there something you're not telling us?"
Sitting on the either end of Elizabeth and Maddie, the other two princesses, Rose and Alexandra, smiled with an edge of discomfort.
"What do you mean?" Elizabeth blinked obliviously at the three of them.
"Well, you're quiet," Maddie looked over to Rose for confirmation, "too quiet."
"I didn't realize there was a time I've ever been chatty with you lot," Lizzie answered calmly before leaning forwards to establish her footing in the burning seashore. She stood up and brushed the backs of her thighs, which were covered in a thin lining of sand.
Rose swatted the bottom of Elizabeth's ankles to command back her attention. Her bright intense gaze, which she inherited from her mother Aurora, radiated against the setting sunlight. "We're serious. We want to know."
Elizabeth turned around and shot her friend a narrow annoyed glare. "Want to know what, exactly?"
"Who is it?"
"Who is, who?"
"You're can't lie your way out of this, Lizzie. We know you're seeing someone," Maddie's eyebrow perked with amused suspicion.
Elizabeth grinned and crossed her arms, "do you, now?"
"If you weren't, you'd be out there with them," she motioned to the boys standing waist-deep in the surf playing catch at long distances with a leather ball. "We've been debating this all afternoon. You're either with one of them, and if that is the case, you don't want to give your relationship away to the other guys by accident. If not, then you're with someone else and you obviously don't want to be seen parading around with a group of shirtless guys without your beau. Which is it?"
Alexandra, daughter of Cinderella and Thomas, let out an exhausted huff, revealing her flawless white smile. "Oh leave the girl alone. God forbid she keeps something from you two."
Elizabeth rolled her eyes as she winced out at the surf. The boys were laughing, fighting, skimming the hard leather ball against the surface of the ocean to hit the receiver. Elizabeth would normally be out there with them. Maddie was right, of course, but she couldn't let that show. It was then that she reminded herself then why she had never spent time around these girls; they were far too perceptive for Elizabeth's liking. At least the guys didn't go to great lengths to divulge in each others deepest secrets.
"I'm guessing it's the same guy that gave you that necklace for Christmas," Rose pointed at the sparkling emerald pendent Elizabeth wore religiously. She grasped the charm in her hand, letting her thumb run along the smooth face of the gem. "Oh c'mon, Lizzie! Who is it?"
"Is it Adam?" Maddie smirked.
"No," Elizabeth was quick to answer. "If it was Adam, believe me, you two would be the first to know."
"What a pity. I had such high hopes for you two," Alexandra muttered while keeping her eyes shut against the striking rays of dying sunlight.
"That means we were right though," Maddie grinned. "There is someone."
"If there was, you can be sure I'd never tell you three." Elizabeth smiled easily before she began to turn away from the three girls lying recumbent on the sand. Just as she took her first few steps towards the stretching tides, Elizabeth noticed the guys making their way out of the water towards her. Dripping head-to-toe, James was the first to reach the group followed by Roland and Adam.
Maddie grinned over at Rose, who had already allowed her cheeks to flush. Thankfully under the harsh setting sun, it wasn't too noticeable from where James was standing dripping over the corners of her towel.
"You're already heading in?" Elizabeth tilted her head in distraught.
"Uh, yeah," James blinked confusedly. "Doesn't your birthday celebration start sometime soon?"
The girls all lifted their heads simultaneously in shock. Just as the group turned to study the time on the clock tower, it chimed melodiously. "Damn," Maddie jumped to her feet and grabbed hold of the ends of her towel. The two other girls followed her out a short distance away to whip the sand off from where they lied. The boys watched them with quizzical grins.
Elizabeth backtracked a few steps away from the group before turning to make her way down to the water. The rippling tide rolled over and sunk into the wet stretch of shoreline. Elizabeth's toes began to curl and mold into the wet beads of gritty sand, leaving imprints of her footprints for one to follow. Sure enough, when her feet were finally greeted by the rush of a dying wave, Elizabeth felt a hand on her shoulder.
She turned to find Adam standing close behind her. "You're not planning on going into the water now, are you?"
"What would be wrong with that?"
He blinked, astonished by the harsh nip in her tone. "Well... you're party-celebration-thing starts soon, doesn't it?"
"Yes?" She raised her brow in challenge.
"Sorry," he backtracked his seemingly meddlesome approach. "I just thought it took girls a long time to get ready for these kinds of things."
"I can go to my party soaking wet, if I damn well please." She left him and began strutting through the cool ocean water. Just as she was about to dive waist-deep into a breaking wave, she heard Adam begin to slosh after her into the surf.
Then she was underwater. Her entire body tingled with relief at the sharp change in temperature. The sweat along the back of her neck and crevice of her forearm lifted off her skin as shreds of slimy seaweed brushed by her face. The wave that rolled along the surface carried Elizabeth's long blonde curls that stuck to her skin, billowing them out freely over her bare back. She swam back up to the surface and broke the air to catch a breath.
Adam came up from the water after her, clearly having gotten the brute force of the crashing wave she dodged. His slick wet chestnut brown hair fell over his eyes, just like how it did when he was a child. Elizabeth laughed and pushed the hair back so that it perked up in a disarray of directions. "I'm surprised Belle hasn't given you a hair cut yet."
He shrugged with a distracted wide grin. Caught in the final, most diverse plethora of color from the sunset, the trickles of sea water that dripped down Elizabeth's face and neck alighted her already summer-bronzed skin. She left him with a bemused grin before turning her attention back at the warm colors of the seasoned sunlight.
He couldn't pull his attention from her. There was something so drawing about Elizabeth that he had noticed over the past year. He still could not understand it. A mysterious contentment had come about her; it was a happiness that no one in the kingdom could pin point a reason to. The bright glimmer in her eyes sent shivers down his spine, alighting every fiber of desire in his being. His desire for her.
Adam gulped nervously and looked away at the sky before she could turn to notice. "No one ever takes the time to stay and watch the sun set anymore," she finally spoke out. "We used to always come out here just to count down the seconds before the sun disappeared."
They were both treading in water, silently staring up ahead at the sky as it gave its final moments of beauty. Adam let out a deep sigh when the ocean's horizon finally consumed the last sliver of light. "We grew up since then, I guess."
She leaned her head to the side and waited another minute in contemplative silence, watching as the colors slowly faded in the sky to reveal the first glimpses of starlight.
"Lizzie, can I ask you something?" Elizabeth inwardly felt her heart skip in warning. Just by his nervousness, she knew where Adam's thoughts were taking him. She looked over at him with a cautious frown. "I've wanted to talk to you for awhile but there has never been a right time."
"About?" she pursed her lips together in stressed thought.
"Us." The word barely escaped his lips in a low mumble. "We had something before Neverland. I'm not really sure what it was, but it was there."
A great wave of anxiety washed over her in that instant. Of course Adam didn't have a clue how dangerous a statement like that was to make to her; he couldn't know. Elizabeth however knew that somewhere, miles away out in Sherwood Forest, Peter Pan likely froze in his tracks and glared down at the vial of pixie dust hanging around his neck. Elizabeth held onto the emerald pendent that hung down from her neck underwater, feeling the pixie dust hidden within the charm begin to tingle. "Adam...-"
"I left you alone after you came back and gave you space. I wanted you to get better and you did. I mean, you really did. Now you're happier than ever and I can't help but wonder if there will ever be a chance we can pick up where we left off," he paused, "I really miss you, Lizzie. I miss how we were."
"Adam, we were never anything. We've always just been friends. Maybe there might have been a moment when we let things get heated between us, but we were never more than what we are now."
He shook his head stubbornly. "I don't believe that. I know you don't either."
Elizabeth felt more and more uncomfortable as Adam subtly began to close the distance between them. She felt the heart of the pendant begin to heat up. Her hand gripped the emerald and caressed the side of the engraving. I can handle this, she communicated in thought.
Before was only speculation. Now Elizabeth knew for certain that Peter Pan, her Peter Pan, had taken notice to the conversation. Wherever he was, sufficient to say, he was angry.
"Tell me what changed," Adam demanded. "Don't tell me that there wasn't a time you felt something for me. Feelings don't just go away, Lizzie."
"You've always meant something to me. We grew up together. You're one of my closest friends."
"That's not all. It can't be," he insisted with a heated gaze, letting himself drift even closer to her.
The pendent now vibrated against her skin in heated rage. Elizabeth squeezed it tightly. Peter, calm down. The pendent was hot in her hand, though gradually cooled under her touch.
"Lizzie...-"
"I need you, Adam, but as a friend. Always and forever as my friend," she frowned with softly uttered words. Before he had a chance to make a last-ditch effort to salvage the conversation, she dipped underwater and began to swim back to shore.
