Getting Back to Normal
Chapter Two
Esmeralda was angrily pacing back and forth in the living room when Quasi and Emma made it downstairs. It was her silence that was deafening. Emma opened her mouth to speak but changed her mind when Quasi shook his head.
"So let me get this straight. The dagger and Excalibur were one weapon. Killian was scratched with Excalibur and died and you thought it was a good idea to tether Killian to the darkness, which in turn, turned the both of you into Dark Ones. How exactly did you get rid of the darkness and my Brother end up in Hell?" The Gypsy finally came to a stop.
"It's a long story and you basically saw the highlights. By the way, how did you do that?" Perhaps she could pull Killian out of his nightmares if she knew how it was done.
"No idea." Esmeralda was not going to be distracted from the subject at hand. "What did you think would happen if you tethered Killian to the darkness? Did it not occur to you that if he could fight it, he would have already taken your place?"
"I couldn't lose him. It was the only way." Emma remembered it as though it were yesterday. "He'd already died in front of me once; I couldn't go through that again."
"Oh God." Quasi sat down heavily on the couch and put his head in his hands. Esmeralda was going to explode over this.
"What?" Esmeralda's voice was dangerously quiet. "This is the second time my Brother has died?" Outside the street lights flickered. "When was the other time my Brother died?" One of the street lights actually exploded.
"Here we go." Quasi muttered.
Emma took a deep breath. "The Author rewrote the happy endings so that only the villains got one. Killian died to protect Henry and me. Luckily Henry managed to reverse what the Author had written and Killian lived."
The window behind Esmeralda shattered. "And nobody thought to let me know?" Now the volume of the Gypsy's voice was loud enough to wake Henry.
"Mom? What's going on? What happened to the window?" Henry stayed on the bottom step of the stairs. "Hi Quasi".
"Bonsoir Henry." Quasi waved to Henry but thought it best to stay where he was. When Esmeralda was upset there was no knowing what would explode. Her powers had become stronger and more unpredictable since she had last visited her Brother.
"Esmeralda just found out everything that's happened since she last visited and what we didn't tell her about prior to her last visit." Emma braced herself to have to use magic to protect her son should Esmeralda cause anything else to explode.
"I'm guessing she's not taking it well." Henry sat down on the stairs. "Killian seems to be sleeping tonight."
Emma realised Henry was right. Despite the raised voices and shattered window, Killian was still asleep. "Why don't the rest of us go to bed and discuss this further in the morning?" Preferably after she'd had a cup of coffee. "The spare room is the second door on the left at the top of the stairs." She needed everyone to calm down so she wouldn't have to use magic. Though neither of them had said the words out loud, both she and Killian were concerned if she used magic then the darkness would return.
Quasi slowly approached his girlfriend. "Cheri, she's right. We've had a lot of information dropped on us tonight. Let's get some sleep and speak to Killian in the morning."
"I felt his pain Quasi." Esmeralda shook with the effort it was taking to control her emotions. "I felt his rage and his soul being torn from his body. He shouldn't have had to go through that alone."
Quasi pulled Esmeralda into his arms and looked at Emma over the top of his girlfriend's head. "I'm sure it was unintentional. It's best that we speak to Killian, but not until the morning." Without another word, he led Esmeralda to the spare room.
"You'd better give Killian a head's up in the morning." Henry muttered to this Mother.
"Oh, I'm pretty sure Esmeralda blames me for everything." Emma shrugged. "She's not totally wrong."
"She's not totally right either." Henry pointed out. "Come on. Let's get some sleep. I've a feeling it's going to be a long day tomorrow."
Emma followed Henry up the stairs, hugged him goodnight and returned to her own room. The moment she climbed into bed, Killian pulled her into his arms, but apart from that he showed no sign of waking. She hoped that for at least tonight he would be able to get a good night's sleep. Surprisingly so did she.
Morning came without a phone call alerting her to a new danger in Storybrooke. Then she remembered she had house guests. Thinking she might gain some goodwill if she made breakfast, Emma moved to climb out of bed. Her Pirate however had other ideas.
"Where are you going? It's Saturday." Killian began nibbling his way down her neck. "Doesn't that mean we can sleep in?" His hand was working its way up her thigh.
"It would if your Sister weren't visiting." She felt him still instantly. "Quasi's with her. They arrived last night."
"Well there go my plans for the morning." Killian buried his face in her shoulder. "How is she? I'm guessing that Quasi isn't keen on letting her out of his sight if he's with her."
How was she going to break the news to him? "She appears to have a few new powers. I don't think she's very happy with me at the moment."
"Why Love? She doesn't know what happened once she went back to France." He sat up and saw the guilty look on Emma's face. "Does she?"
"You were having a nightmare when she arrived." The words came rushing out of Emma's mouth. "Somehow she reached into your dream and pulled you out of it. But she saw everything that happened. She got angry and the window shattered, which she fixed but she's still pissed that nobody told her what was going on. Especially considering you died twice in the past year."
"I missed a lot last night." Killian knew his Sister had a temper but it didn't usually manifest itself in breaking windows.
"There may be some permanent side effects from her helping me when she was last here." Emma hoped Esmeralda wasn't capable of making the whole house explode.
"So it would appear." This wasn't the way he had planned on starting his morning. "Well, let's see if they are awake yet." Better to get this over and done with.
When they both got downstairs they found Quasi and Henry talking at the dining table over breakfast. Esmeralda was noticeable in her absence.
"Morning Quasi." Killian sat beside the Hunchback. "So how much trouble am I in?" He seriously doubted Esmeralda was still in bed. Therefore he gathered she had gone for a walk to vent her temper where nothing would get broken.
"You need to understand Killian, she didn't just pull you out of a nightmare last night. She felt everything you went through as though it happened to her." Quasi sipped his coffee. "About an hour ago she couldn't take being inside any longer and went for a walk."
"Shouldn't she be back by now?" Emma was surprised that neither Quasi nor Killian weren't more concerned.
"She'll be back when she's ready." Quasi went back to watching something on Henry's phone which the boy was attempting to explain to him.
"I have a feeling someone will call you soon to let us know where she is Love." Killian stood to get himself a coffee.
"What if she walks across the town line?" The likelihood that anything would happen to the Gypsy with no big bad in town was slim. However she might not be able to find her way back.
"Perhaps I'll go and look for her." Killian headed upstairs to get dressed. By the time he came back downstairs Emma had received a call about a tidal wave down at the docks. "I'm guessing Es is still a tad upset. Best be heading there."
"Be careful." It took everything in Emma not to go with him to keep him safe. Her gut told her that her presence could make things worse.
"She's become more powerful." Quasi cautioned. "Don't make any sudden movements. There's no knowing what's going to come flying at your head. She almost took me out with one of the bells last week." Yet the Hunchback didn't seem concerned that any argument with his girlfriend could result in concussion by church bell.
Killian kissed Emma good bye and headed for the docks. He knew his Sister was close by when Leroy ran past him screaming "tidal wave". Sure enough Esmeralda sat on a bench staring out at the water with a giant tidal wave heading for the dock.
"Es!" It was with some relief the wave dissolved and his Sister glanced over her shoulder at him before turning back out at the water. A quiet Esmeralda was a dangerous Esmeralda.
Cautiously moving towards the bench Killian wondered just how much his Sister had discovered when she slipped into his dream last night. He sat down next to her as though he expected her or the bench to explode. "Sorry I wasn't awake when you arrived last night."
"I'm sorry you don't trust me enough to let me know that you died twice, became the Dark One, killed Merlin, tried to snuff out the light and ended up in the Underworld." She looked at him. "Did I miss anything?"
"Isn't that enough." Killian supposed that was a lot to find out about in one go.
"It would have been if I hadn't felt all the emotions that you felt at the time you lived through it. Not to mention seeing Milah be killed and you having your hand cut off." The water began to churn again.
"You were never meant to see all of that." Killian bowed his head in shame. "I'm not exactly proud of what I did while I was a Dark One. I can't blame Emma for tethering me to the sword. Despite my arguments to the contrary, I probably would have done the same thing if she were dying in my arms."
"Doesn't change anything." Esmeralda took a deep breath as if to calm herself. "The two of you seem to have survived it all and Henry doesn't seem traumatised."
"Should I be concerned that Henry isn't fazed by anything that happened? He didn't even bat an eye when I asked him to help me find a house so I could move in with his Mother." Killian had to admit the lad was resilient.
"When are you going to ask Emma to marry you?" Esmeralda was a little surprised Killian hadn't already asked her.
"When she's ready. If I ask her now, she'll run." He watched his Sister as so many emotions ran across her beautiful face. "You're one to talk. When's Quasi going to marry you?"
She rolled her eyes. "I keep asking him but he says he's not good enough for me. That I should be with someone who doesn't look like a monster." She huffed in frustration. "There's nothing wrong with the way he looks. He's shaped like a croissant and you know how much I like those."
Killian was struggling not to laugh as it would only upset his Sister more. "Perhaps he just needs time."
"Or perhaps I'm the monster." She turned back towards the water.
"You're not a monster. You're unusual but not a monster." He put his arm around her shoulders. "Time heals all wounds, right?"
Esmeralda chuckled bitterly. "How's that working for you?" She had noticed the tension in the house.
"Let's head back and find out." Killian stood and held his hand out to her. Besides, Emma would worry if they didn't come home soon and he had already put her through enough.
7