Sorry, this is a short chapter! I am leaving to go house boating in an hour and felt I needed to post something before I left for a couple of days. I did not have enough time to make this one long chapter, so this Three-shot will now be a Four-shot. Thanks for all the reviews, follows and favorites! I really appreciate it! Please look pass any of the grammar errors I made, because I wrote this in a hurry. Enjoy!
Part 3: Finding Yourself Not Entirely Lonely
Ever since the night Emma had come back from her search for Henry alone, Mary Margaret had been worried sick about her daughter. Her daughter's sorrow seemed to seep into the air and make everyone feel melancholy. The morning fog appeared thicker and grayer, the water seemed colder and the night seemed blacker.
The first night when Mary Margaret had tried to talk to Emma and bring her food, she got no response from behind Hook's cabin doors. The only time she heard her daughter at all that first night was at the dead of night. Mary Margaret had been sitting on the stairs of the ship, not able to sleep from worrying about Emma and Henry and mourning Hook's death, when she had heard the whimpering coming from the cabin. As she had got up and walked closer to Hook's room, she had heard Emma's whimpers turn to sobs as she choked on sleep-induced words. When Mary Margaret tried to get into the cabin she seemed to have woken up Emma because the noises stopped and turned to silence.
"Emma?" Mary Margaret had asked, hoping to get a response from her daughter but she just heard a few sniffles before again being welcomed by silence.
The next day, Charming tried to break down the door, worried that something had happened to Emma, but it appeared that Emma had cast a protection spell around the cabin, which she had learned from some of Regina's magic lessons, making it impossible for anyone to enter. Regina and Gold did not see the importance in seeing if Emma was okay in there, so no help came their way regarding the spell. That night she again heard Emma crying, but this time she was able to make out what Emma was whispering.
"Killian!" Emma had gasped in a heart-broken manner as Mary Margaret had pressed her ear to the door. She then proceeded to choke out, "I am so sorry." like she way begging for forgiveness. This went on for a while before her nightmares gave her some peace and allowed her to slip into a silent rest.
Eventually, Mary Margaret and Charming gave up on trying to open the door and decided to give her the solitude she wished for, knowing she is strong and will come out when she knew she is able to put her walls back up. She had been through losses worse than this and she would survive.
On the third day of Emma's absence, it was Charming and Mary Margaret's turn to search for Henry on the island. They did not wish to leave the ship with Emma in the state she was in, but they knew she would not be leaving that room anytime soon, so a few hours searching for Henry would do the group some good. Charming and Mary Margaret got into the small rowboat and lowered themselves into the water, waves immediately hitting the boat once they were free from the Jolly Rodger. They began to row towards the main land when Mary Margaret began to speak.
"Where do you believe Henry could be?" she asked her husband in a business-like tone.
"I have no idea. With Hook gone, we really have no idea where we are or where we are going. The only one even capable of steering the ship, besides him, is Emma and we know she won't be steering the ship anytime soon." Charming responded, scowling in confusion as he tried to understand why his daughter responded the way she did to Hook's death.
"Snow, do you think something was going on between Hook and Emma? I cant understand why she is reacting to his death this way." Charming asks his wife with concern, moving the row through the water as they get closer to the shore.
"I don't know, David. All I know is that Hook is the one of the first people to come back for her. Ever since him coming back, they have-had gotten close. They were friends." Snow explained, feeling sympathy for her daughter. Charming shook his head in guilt. They had not wanted to leave Emma and the fact that she found closure in Hook, a man Charming did not trust, made him feel even worse. Charming was about to continue when they hit land. They became silent as they pulled the boat onto shore and then began to trek up the beach. Mary Margaret had just about hit where the sand began to meet the trees when she heard a groan. She looked down and nearly screamed.
Hook awoke to a splitting headache and the vague feeling of possible broken bones. He had felt worse though. The fact that he had woken up meant that they had believed in the fake whereabouts he had given them for Henry. They should have known the mermaids would not be stupid enough to hide a boy from the shadow. Luckily, they did not think things through, like the children they were, and he got away with his life. His meaningless life.
He groaned when he attempted to open his eyes and face ached. He heard a yelp and slowly opened his eyes, to be blinded by the daylight. He heard a gasp to the right of him and finally was able to see enough to see two familiar faces staring down at him in shock.
"Hello your majesties. Long time no see?" Hook groaned out before smirking in a careless manner, trying to hide his pain and not seem weak in front of the King and Queen.
"Three days, Hook. We thought you were dead." Charming explained in an abrupt manner, attempting to get over his surprise. It was not every day you saw a man come back from the grave.
"Emma thinks you are dead." whispered Mary Margaret in a confused and upset voice.
"Emma? Emma!" he yelled, furious, as he pushed himself up on his elbows and stared daggers at Snow as he continued. "Are you mocking me? Is your daughters demise a joke to you, Milady? I do not see how you can bring her up so casually."
"What do you mean by her demise?" Charming asked staring at him in a confused state as he asked him what they were both wondering. "Emma is alive on your ship. She, along with everyone else on the ship, believes you are the one that died. We even have your bloody hook." Charming said, pointing to Hook's hookless arm.
"You have my hook?" Hook asked, staring uncomprehendingly at Charming, unable to believe what they were saying.
"Yes, Hook. Come back to the ship with us." Mary Margaret said, hoping he will come back without a fight. It seemed he had been beaten and was dehydrated to the point of being delirious. They needed to figure out where he had been, but more importantly, they had to get him back to Emma.
"What's the point? Why are you not trying to stab me, King? Your daughter-is dead because of me." Hook asked, choking on the part where he spoke of Emma.
"It's okay Hook. Everything will be okay." Snow reassured Hook as he began to pass out from the pain and the lack of nutrients of any kind for about three days, excluding the water that he choked on when he was being drowned. Mary Margaret and Charming hauled Hook up and dragged him to the row boat in a slight stupor as the revelation of Hook being alive finally soaked in. They just needed to show Emma now. They began rowing towards the Jolly Rodger with renewed hope.