A/N: Hey guys. I woke up early this morning with this idea for a Jemma oneshot so I wrote it then decided to share it online. This is my first time uploading a story on this account and I would reeeally like to avoid flames so if you ship Demma/dislike Jemma, I'd suggest not reading this fic (I know I wouldn't be reading a Demma fic haha). If you don't like it, don't read it, ya know? :) I'm just looking to share my writing and I'm a bit nervous to do that on here so please be kind. Last night I read the description for tonight's Every Witch Way episode "Outta Hand" and part of it influenced this story a bit, as you'll see (I wrote this fic before I saw the episode). The title... I have a lot of songs that I think fit Jemma and I didn't know what to call this fic, so I chose a line from one of the songs on my Jemma playlist, Boom Clap by Charli XCX. Enjoy!
It was late Sunday night and Emma Alonso was just starting to doze off. She was getting to that hazy place where she was halfway between a dream and reality when Jax Novoa appeared a few feet in front of her.
"Hey, Emma," he said in his adorable Australian accent.
Emma clamped one hand over her mouth to muffle her scream as she jolted upward. "Jax!" she hissed once she had control of her vocal chords. "What are you doing here?! It's—" She glanced at her bedside alarm clock. "—almost midnight!"
"I was on the school's website looking at the swim team's placements from the previous years when I came across this cute little video." He tossed her his phone and it started to play a short video Gigi "Miss Information" Rueda had somehow managed to upload onto the school's website. It was a compilation of pictures of Emma and her boyfriend Daniel Miller to some slow romantic tune Emma didn't recognize. A small smile appeared on her lips. "That's sweet…" But when she looked up and saw Jax's less than amused expression, she blushed and snapped, "What about it?"
He sat down on the edge of her bed, took his phone back, and said, "It was just the first time I've seen you two actually being intimate is all."*
Emma blinked. "What? That's crazy. Daniel and I—"
"Are never together."
"That's not true! Just last week he planned this super romantic moonlit picnic… that lasted for two minutes before my dad texted and I had to go home…" When Jax laughed, Emma said, "But it's the thought that counts!"
"Right."
"It is! It was so sweet: he had cute little drinks and a table cloth and we were on the dock underneath the Fool Moon—"
"Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa." It wasn't until Emma saw the horror on Jax's face that she realized the error in what she'd just said. "Hold up: you went outside… at night… with a human… when the Fool Moon was up?"
"Yeah…"
"Are you insane?!"
"Jax—"
"Emma, the Fool Moon could have made you think Daniel was that principal you told me about. You could have panicked and made him disappear forever."
Her eyes widened. "That can happen?"
"Yes! Didn't you cover this?"
"Well, I mean—"
"You know, I'm starting to think you don't even want your powers."
"That's—" That was an accusation and Emma wanted to tell him it wasn't true. But… she wasn't so sure it wasn't. She sighed. "Jax, it's complicated…"
"You know, you say that about a lot of things. And I'm sure by now you've figured out I'm not going to understand until you've explained it to me, so…"
"I—" She leaned her head back and groaned. In no way did she want to say this out loud, especially not to Jax Novoa. But… it would feel nice to really tell someone. And Jax was always intrigued by her reasoning…
"Fine." She sat up and crossed her legs criss-cross applesauce underneath her covers. She took a deep breath then slowly let it out. "You remember that day you covered me in goo in the science lab? You asked me why I would ever date a human?"
He nodded.
"Welllll… my mom was a witch and she gave up her powers for my dad because he's a human."
"Ohhhh," Jax said in a tone that told her he was starting to understand. "So, if you give up your powers for Daniel, it's a way for you to be like your mum?"
Emma bit her lip and whispered, "More than that."
"More than that?"
She swallowed hard then said, "She, um… she died when I was born. I never got to know her. I never got to go shopping with her or to the movies or even to the grocery store. I never got to listen to music with her or watch the TV shows she liked or try on her clothes…" She raised her eyes. "I know nothing about her, Jax."
"Your dad never talks about her?" he asked softly.
"He used to. When I was little. But… it's been a long time and he's so busy being the new principal that sometimes I feel like he doesn't remember her at all and… I mean, if you die and no one talks about you, you're really gone unless there's some other way for people to keep you alive in their memories, and I just—I never got to make a personal connection to her, so I thought if I… if I gave up my powers for a human like she did…"
"There's your connection."
"Exactly. So, you're right: maybe my relationship with Daniel isn't the best thing in the world, but… it's my only shot." Emma took a deep breath and waited for him to say something. When he didn't, she said, "You think it's stupid, don't you?"
Jax chose his words carefully, something he didn't do often. "I don't think your intention is stupid, Emma. But I think you're looking at this in the completely wrong way."
"What do you mean?"
"There's lots of ways to make a connection to someone who's passed. Self-sacrifice does not have to be one of them. In fact, it shouldn't be one of them."
"Well yeah, if you knew the person—"
"And if you didn't. Emma, don't you think your mum would want you to be happy?"
She thought about that for a second. She'd never gotten to meet the woman but from what little she knew, it sounded like she'd been a wonderful person. "Yes…"
"So, let's find a way for you to make a connection to her that doesn't involve giving up your powers. How old was your mum when she married your dad?"
"Twenty-four."
"See! She had years of practicing magic before that. It must have been a pretty big part of her life. So why don't you make a connection to her through your powers?"
"I'm not sure I know what you mean."
"I'm saying, let's do some research on the types of spells your mum used the most and help you learn some of them." Jax smiled encouragingly at her and waited for her response. When she looked unsure, he said, "Oh come on. It's a good idea and you know it."
Emma was actually in awe of how smart Jax was. All these months she'd thought the key to making a connection to her mom lay in giving up her powers, not getting better at using them. But now that she'd heard the idea laid out, it all made sense. Jax was right: her mom would want her to be happy and magic was the one thing that would make her both closer to her mom and happier. She smiled and said, "Let's do it."
"Excellent. How 'bout tomorrow?"
"Okay. Swimming practice ends at 5:30, right?"
"You're hilarious. I meant tomorrow during the day."
"But we have school—"
"Which we'll ditch? Duh?"
Her eyes widened. "Ditch school?"
"Uh, yeah. We can go for a ride around town on my bike, grab a bite to eat, then do some research on your mum all before the day's over."
"But—"
"Look, I know you're new to this whole 'fun' thing but I'll give you a hint: school is not fun."
"But… it's the rules! We're not eighteen so we have to be in school—"
Jax chuckled. "Oh, Emma. Why do you try to live by human rules when you're not a human? If you went to the zoo and there was a sign that said 'All elephants must be kept behind a glass wall at all times' would you climb in behind the glass, too?"
Emma had never thought of it that way. "No…"
"So it's settled. I'll pick you up tomorrow morning."
"Andi comes over in the mornings," she said quietly. Excitement was starting to build in the space behind her bellybutton but she knew Andi was going to make some sort of fuss once she found out about this. If she didn't reprimand Emma for skipping school with Mr. Rebellious, she'd beg to tag along. And Emma really didn't want her to. "We always walk to school together…"
"I'll take care of Andi."
"What do you mean you'll—"
"Don't worry about it!" he said with amusement. "Emma, you have got to stop worrying about every little detail and just go with the flow. I'll see you in the morning." He stood to transport himself back to his own bedroom when Emma exclaimed, "Wait!"
"What?"
"Why were you watching a video of Daniel and me?"
Jax shrugged and said, "It was on the page. You guys are my friends so I just—"
"Remind me again why exactly you don't like me being with Daniel."
"Let's see here: A) The Witches' Council can take your powers, B) he doesn't understand you, C) he doesn't accept you for who you are, D) your entire relationship is based on lies, and E)—"
"He's not you."
For the first time since Emma had met him, Jax Novoa was speechless. He stared at her open-mouthed as if he couldn't believe she'd actually said that. She grinned and he couldn't help but grin back. He shook his head, twirled his finger in the air, and singsonged, "Goodniiiight, Emma."
"Goodniiiight, Jax," she singsonged back as he disappeared. She stared at the place where he'd stood moments ago and found that she could not stop grinning. Her grin remained as she fluffed her pillows. Her grin remained as she lay back down. Her grin remained as she stared up at her ceiling and willed herself to calm down enough to go to sleep. But it was no use; she felt so tingly she knew she wouldn't sleep a wink.
Tomorrow was going to be a blast.
*Like I said, I wrote this before I saw tonight's episode.
